Freelancer 6
by odstpilot
Summary: Detonating the slipspace bomb on Long Night of Solace, Noble 6 is picked up by the mother of invention. Taking the directors offer, he becomes an agent of project freelancer.
1. Chapter 1

Freelancer 6

Summary: Detonating the slipspace bomb on _Long Night of Solace_ , Noble 6 is picked up by the mother of invention. Taking the directors offer, he becomes an agent of project freelancer.

Ch 1

 _Covenant Corvette_

 _Orbit of Reach_

 _2552_

The door on the Covenant Corvette opened, and the elite came out, firing his plasma rifle. Unfortunately, said elite was killed by a hail of gunfire.

Noble 6 put his assault rifle on his back and held his captured needle rifle in his hands. He and the fellow marines headed back towards the hanger of the corvette, where Jorge was hosing the covenant soldiers with a hail of gunfire from his chain-gun.

"Nice of you to drop by." Jorge said.

"I see you brought company." Six retorted, and he shot a grunt in the face with his needle rifle. Priming a plasma grenade, he threw it at an elite that came out of a corridor, promptly blowing him up.

The shooting died down, and all was quiet. Jorge approached the makeshift slipspace bomb and attempted to activate it, but to no avail.

"Damn it." He growled, slapping it with his hand.

"Well, I got good news and bad news. Our bird's gimbal is toast, and the only way off this slag heap is gravity." Jorge said.

"And the good news?" 6 asked.

"That was the good news." Jorge said.

"Timer's fried. One of us will have to set it manually." He continued.

"I'll do it. Jorge, Reach needs you." 6 replied.

The taller Spartan headed to the force field of the hanger and looked back at his comrade.

"Good luck noble." Jorge said, and jumped out of the ascending corvette.

Falling towards Reach, he watched as the corvette entered the large supercarrier, the slip-space drive going off, destroying a large portion of the carrier.

"Finally, it's over." Jorge sighed.

Sadly, a large fleet of covenant warships entered orbit, engaging to UNSC fleet and orbital defense platforms.

 _UNSC Mother of Invention_

 _2553_

"Why did you call me to the bridge at 0300 hours?" the director asked, approaching the bridge.

"Sorry, sir. But we're reading a slipspace bubble forming off our starboard bow." The pilot said.

"What is it?" the director asked.

The slipspace bubble appeared into view and then spat out debris.

"The debris consists of… covenant ship armor." The pilot said.

The director looked at the debris and looked at the console when an alarm went off.

"Phyllis, what did you find?" the director asked.

"A lone human bio-sign." Phyllis said.

"Bring it into the ship. This should be interesting."

Noble 6 grunted in pain and held his hand up against the bright light above him.

"Where am I?" Noble 6 asked.

"It's okay. You're on the mother of invention." The doctor said.

"Mother of invention. Never heard of it. Are you with the Epsilon Eridani fleet?" Noble 6 asked.

The doctor had a weary expression on his face, when another person walked in.

"I'll take over, doctor." The man said, wearing a standards captain's uniform and sunglasses.

"I'm Leonard Church, the director of project freelancer."

"Noble 6. Where am I?" he asked.

"He said something about the Epsilon Eridani fleet." The doctor said.

"Noble 6, what's the last thing you remember?" the director asked.

"Detonating the slipspace bomb aboard a covenant supercarrier. Why?" Noble 6 asked.

"Noble 6, the human covenant war is over." The director said.

Noble 6 didn't speak.

' _The war is over. We won. Right?'_

"We won, right?" Noble 6 asked.

"Yes, we did. But as you know, most of our planets were glassed, including Reach." The director said.

"That's impossible. I destroyed a covenant supercarrier to save Reach."

"The Covenant sent in another fleet to destroy the planet. It's a long story, but we've won the war, and we're in a truce with the Elites." The director said.

"Bullshit. You can't make a deal with those alien bastards." Noble 6 said, not believing it.

"It's the truth. You can look up the history any time you wish. But for now, you should recover, and I'm scheduling an appointment for you to meet with the counselor." The director said.

"Fine." Noble 6 said, as he lay back on the bed.

The director headed towards the counselor's room and looked at her.

"Director?" she asked.

"We have a…guest on this ship. I want you to analyze him tomorrow." The director said.

"What's his name?" the counselor asked.

"He called himself Noble 6." The director said.

When the director left, the counselor looked thru the UNSC database for a person called Noble 6.

' _Impossible. He wants me to psychoanalyze a SPARTAN supersoldier?! And one that by all UNSC and covenant accounts, should be dead.'_


	2. Chapter 2

Ch 2

"You're good to go, Spartan. The director wants you to visit the counselor." The doctor said.

"I know." Noble 6 said, and grabbed his weapons; the covenant needle rifle, and the MA-37 assault rifle.

Noble 6 walked out of the med bay, wearing his armor. As he walked down the hall of the ship, everyone cleared from his way afraid of the Spartan, who easily towered over the freelancers.

Approaching the door, he knocked on it and waited.

"Come in."

Opening and closing the door, Noble 6 didn't notice he was briefly watched from outside. Walking inside, he looked at the counselor noticing her features. She was middle age, probably in her 40s. With light brown curly hair, and a touch of red lipstick coating her lips.

"Counselor?" 6 asked.

"Sit down." she said, motioning to one of the chairs.

"My armor weights a full ton." 6 replied.

"The chairs on this ship are built to handle such weight. Sit down." She said.

6 sat down, while the counselor looked at the Spartan. She noted that the armor looked very similar to Agent Maine's armor, especially the helmet.

"Our records show that you died during operation: Uppercut during the battle of reach. How is it that you survived?" she asked.

Noble 6 sighed and clenched his fists. He still had the adrenaline rush from a battle.

"Counselor, I have no idea how I'm still alive. The radiation should have killed me, hell I should be trapped in some weird dimension. People have actually disappeared while working on the damn drives." 6 replied.

"What's the last thing you remember from the war?" the counselor asked.

"Noble 5 jumps off the corvette. The ship was docking with the supercarrier, and I activated the bomb. I don't remember anything else after that." 6 said.

The two sat in silence, when Noble 6 spoke again.

"I've been looking over the UNSC records after the fall of reach. I still can't believe we won, let alone survived. 117 must have been one hell of a soldier." 6 said.

Just then, the director came inside the room and looked at Noble 6.

"I've been looking over your combat record. And I think you can be a valuable asset to project Freelancer." The director said.

"The covenant war is over. Are we fighting the Insurrectionists?" 6 asked.

"We are. After the war, they've grown in size and strength. Project freelancer is trying to curb their strength and influence." The director said.

"If we're defending the UNSC, I'm in." Noble 6 said.

"Excellent. Head to the barracks. I'll let the rest of the agents know." The director said.

"Agents, sir?" 6 asked.

"We have 50 agents aboard this ship. All are very lethal and capable fighters." The director said, almost proud of his agents.

"If they've fought the covenant during the war, then you're correct." 6 replied.

"And if they haven't?" the director asked.

"Then we'll see what they're capable of." 6 answered, standing up and headed towards the door.

"Noble 6, I'd like another session with you." The counselor said.

"Schedule it later. I need to see what's going on this ship." 6 said, as he left the room and headed towards the barracks.

Agent North and York were watching a game of grifball, when a message came onto the screen.

 _Attention all agents._

 _We have a new agent on the ship, Spartan Noble 6. He is to start training and go on field operations. He expects your full cooperation._

 _-Director of Project Freelancer._

"A Spartan?" York asked.

"Noble 6?" North wondered, when the door opened.

"Speak of the devil, and he shall appear." Noble 6 said, as he walked into the barracks, standing at his full height.

"Noble 6. I'm agent York, and this is Agent North Dakota." York said, extending his hand.

Noble 6 grabbed his hand and shook it. York was surprised at the newcomer's strength and power.

"Nice to meet you two. Can anyone tell me more about project freelancer?" Noble 6 asked.

"Sure thing. We're a special forces branch, dedicated to protecting humanity. The director has plans for project freelancer. And said plans are unknown to us." North said.

"Sounds very stupid." Noble 6 replied.

"That's one way of putting it." North said.

Just then, the door opened and another Freelancer walked in. She was wearing a light purple armor.

"North, Spartan, come with me." South said.

"What for?" North asked.

"The director wants to see us." South said.

The director stood in front of his three agents; behind him was a detailed hologram on an oil platform surrounded by glaciers and cold water.

"A mission, sir?" 6 asked.

"Correct. You three are to infiltrate the facility and gather intel on a cryogenics device. This device is important to project freelancer, so complete the mission. Remember, stealth is of the upmost importance." The director said, glaring at south.

' _She must have a problem with that. Interesting.'_

The three headed to the armory and grabbed their weapons. South chose a pistol, North grabbed his sniper rifle and a sub machine gun, and 6 kept his needle rifle and assault rifle.

"What kind of weapon is that?" North asked, pointing to the covenant rifle.

"Needle rifle. Heard of the needler? This is the cousin." Noble 6 said.

"It fires needles? God, I'd hate to be on the opposite end of that." North said.

Noble 6 raised an eyebrow at that.

"Did any of you agents fought in the war?" he asked.

"Wash, but that's it." South said.

The ride to the base was quiet as the freelancers gathered their thoughts. Noble 6 poured over the available intel on the icy rig. One thing was for certain. It was going to be very cold.

"Heads up. Thermals will be near useless thanks to the freezing cold. Use your motion trackers, and good luck." Noble 6 said, as the pelican slowed down; they were approaching the DZ.

The three agents jumped out of the Pelican and landed on the lower catwalks of the base. 6 took point and lead them into upper portion of the base.

"North, head to one of those towers and provide over-watch. South, me and you will look for the data." 6 said.

"Got it." South said, and headed into the facility.

"South, did you activate your motion tracker?" North asked.

"That'll take too long." South replied.

"How stupid can she be?" 6 muttered, as he activated his motion tracker; he knew that little piece of technology saved his life plenty of times.

6 entered thru a different way and slowly walked forward, a combat knife in his hands. Motion sensors detected an enemy heading from his left. Hiding behind some pipes, he waited for the enemy to walk away.

"Thanks god." He muttered and entered another hallway. At the end was a computer terminal. Plugging in a data chip, he gathered all the information they needed.

"North, I got the information and…" 6 started, when he heard gunfire.

"Goddamn it." 6 muttered, as he brought his needle rifle to bear.

"Meet us at the helipad!" North shouted.

Sighing, 6 ran at full speed to the helipad, coming closer to the sound of gunfire. Without breaking a sweat, he aims his needle rifle and fires 4 shots, killing the four snipers that had the twins pinned down.

"Thanks for the help!" South shouted.

"Thank me later!" 6 replied, as they headed onto the helipad, killing the enemy soldiers that stood in their way. Noble 6 ran forward and implanted his knee into the first enemy soldier that came close to him. And said enemy was thrown back towards his fellow comrades, knocking them down as if they were bowling pins.

"We're clear!" 6 shouted, as they ran onto the pad, surrounded by enemy soldiers.

"Oh come on!" South exclaimed.

"Shit." North muttered.

"Attention assholes! Stand down! You're surrounded! Give us the data file! Or we'll take it by force!" the squad leader shouted, manning the heavy machinegun trained on them.


	3. Chapter 3

Ch 3

Noble 6 quickly aims his rifle at the squad leader and pulls the trigger, a large purple needle round embedding itself in the head. Quick as a bullet, he ran forward and jumped towards the mini gun, easily reaching it. He rips the gun off the mount and proceeds to beat any soldiers close to him to a bloody pulp with the large weapon.

The remaining soldiers quickly backed away, not wanting to die a gruesome death. Unfortunately for them, Noble 6 started to gun them down with the mini-gun, forcing the survivors to retreat into the icy fortress.

"What the fuck's with this guy?" North wondered, as Noble 6 slaughtered the insurrectionist soldiers.

Another soldier came behind 6, startling him. He turned around and pointed the minigun at the enemy as if he were holding a simple rifle.

"Woah. Calm down." The soldier said, her armor changing color to a teal color.

"Who are you?" 6 asked.

"Agent Carolina. Nice work, 6." Carolina said.

"Thanks. Where's our ride?" 6 asked.

A pelican appeared out of nowhere and opened the back door.

The 4 agents quickly got inside and the pilot took them away from the base. Noble 6 put the mini gun on the floor and sat on a chair.

"Are all Spartans that lethal?" North asked.

"Yes. We're made to be the perfect killing machine. Took down plenty of covenant bastards on Reach." 6 said.

The ice facility suddenly blew up, the remains sinking into the ocean.

"We didn't set any explosives, did we?" 6 asked, as he and south headed to the back of the ship.

"We got company!" South shouted, as two longsword fighters came into view and started firing at the Pelican.

"Shake them off!" South shouted at the pilot.

"I'm working on it." The pilot growled as she forced the pelican into maneuvers it wasn't built for.

"Work harder." South complained, as bullets raked the armor of the pelican.

An alarm ran in the cockpit, and 6 reached into the upper bulkhead of the troop bay and pulled down a large briefcase.

"Take evasive action!" south shouted.

"Hey south, do something for me." The pilot said.

"Do what?" south asked.

The pilot shut the door in the agent's face.

"You stupid bitch!" south shouted.

"Hold on!" 6 shouted, as the Pelican barrel rolled to avoid the missiles heading towards it. South was thrown into a bulkhead and was knocked out.

"North, 6 get them off our tail." Carolina said.

The two agents climbed up a ladder and stood on the top of the Pelican, seeing the longsword fighters approaching. 6 aimed the rocket launcher at the closest one and pulled the trigger, firing the two rockets.

The rockets hit the fighter, but it wasn't enough to destroy it.

"One last thing." 6 muttered, as he aimed the mini-gun and hosed the fighter with a lethal spray of 20mm.

"How long do you think that'll work?" North asked, when the mini-gun quit firing.

"North, you better have something up your sleeve." 6 said.

The fighters fired their air to air missiles at the pelican, intent on bringing it down. North kneeled and slammed his hand into the hull of the pelican; a domed energy shield appeared, stopping the missiles dead in their track.

"Hold on!" 6 shouted, pressing North into the hull as they plummeted towards the earth.

The pelican pulled up just in time, with the fighters still on their tail. A loud noise is heard, and one of the fighters violently explodes.

"Woah!" the pilot exclaims.

6 and North look up, seeing the mother of invention come out of the clouds. The MAC cannon fires again, destroying the second fighter.

"Glad that's over with." 6 said, as he and north headed into the pelican. They docked in the hanger bay, and walked out, meeting the director.

"Did you accomplish your mission?" the director asked.

"We did. Here's the data file." 6 said, handing a chip to the director said.

"Good work, 6." The director said.

With a plate with food, 6 started to eat his food when Wash and North sat next to him.

"North says you kicked ass out there." Wash said.

"It's what I do." 6 replied, as he shoved a potato in his mouth.

"Well, glad you're on our side. I think Carolina might be a little ticked off." Wash said, as Carolina stole a glare at the Spartan.

"We completed the mission. Why would she be mad?" 6 asked.

"What do you see on the walls?" North asked.

"A ranking system." 6 said.

"Exactly. We're supposed to be competitive, for some reason." Wash said.

"That'll get troops killed in the field. Your unit is supposed to cooperate, have total faith in one another. Remember, a link of chains is as strong as the weakest link. This freelancer competition is a load of bullshit. I'm surprised South didn't get killed during the mission." 6 said.

"You're going to make some enemies if you keep that up." Wash warned.

"The only enemy I'm worried about is the Innies. But if a freelancer turns out to be an enemy, I've no qualms of killing them." 6 said, not noticing that CT briefly winced at that remark.

"Nice to know." North said.

6 stood up and headed to the barracks, where Carolina was waiting for him.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

"Tomorrow morning, 0800 hours in the training room. Me and you. We'll see how tough you are." Carolina said.

"Just remember. You'll reap what you sow." 6 calmly replied.

Carolina glared at 6, then walked away.

"They wouldn't last 5 seconds against the covenant." 6 muttered to himself.

"Freelancers North, South, 6, and Carolina. Please head to the ready room." The director said.

"Wonder what that's about." 6 muttered, as he headed towards the briefing room.

Entering the room, he noticed the other agents already there.

"The data you recovered has pinpointed the location of a very important target for project Freelancer. Excellent work." The director said.

"Thank you, sir." The freelancers said.

"Counselor, please update the board." The director said.

The counselor typed in a few commands into his data pad, and the large ranking board switched a few names. Noble 6's name was between Wyoming and North Dakota, at number four.

North Dakota was just beneath him, followed by South.

"I thought the mission was a success, sir." South Dakota growled.

"One of the mission objectives was stealth. Your carelessness revealed our intentions and made our next mission more difficult. They'll be ready for us. Dismissed." The director coldly said.

"Thanks to you, we're going to get our asses shot on the next run." 6 coldly added.

"Think I should talk to her?" Carolina asked.

South punched the door control and walked out of the room; the control falling to the ground.

"Maybe we give her a minute." North said.


	4. Chapter 4

Ch 4

Gunshots rang out, as 6 practiced his sharpshooting skills. Putting the DMR down, he grabbed a sniper rifle and checked to see if it was loaded.

Resting the butt against his shoulder, he zeroed in on the holographic target and pulled the trigger. The rifle recoiled as the .50 caliber round tore thru the target.

"Good shot." Carolina said.

"Grab a weapon, start shooting." 6 said, as he fired a second round.

"Haven't seen you much since the mission." Carolina said, as she grabbed a battle rifle and started firing down range.

"Yeah. I've been catching up on history and project freelancer, the insurrectionist. One question. Did you fight in the covenant war?" 6 asked.

"No. Wash is the only one who did." Carolina replied.

"I don't know why South is pissed that she moved down the leaderboard. Hell, she should be lucky she's still alive. Take it from me. You don't get second chances at life." 6 said.

"No kidding. South needs to get her shit together." Carolina said.

"All you freelancers need to get your shit together. If you get rid of this competition crap, your chances of success will go thru the roof." 6 said.

"The competition is necessary." Carolina said.

"It'll get people killed in the field! You and the rest of the freelancers are so blind to it." 6 said, as he put the rifle aside and walked out of the training room.

"What's his problem?" Carolina muttered, as she continued her shooting. Noble 6 walked down a hallway when a soldier ran into him.

"Sorry, sir." He said.

"Soldier, where's everyone heading?" 6 asked.

"New freelancer just came in. 3-1 match." The soldier said.

"Got to see this." 6 muttered. He headed to the training room and saw a new agent facing Agents Maine, York, and Wyoming. In the observation booth, he joined the twins, Wash, CT, and Carolina.

"That agent is good." 6 said, as he watched agent Texas easily beat the stuffing out of her opponents.

"You worried about your spot?" South asked.

"I'm more worried about York, Maine, and Wyoming." 6 replied, as he kept his eye on the new agent. The match went from hand to hand to paintball shooting. York tried to get his partners to be a team, but Wyoming and Maine just jumped in head-first, and got shot with paint.

"Told you this shit wouldn't work." 6 snarled at Carolina.

"Why don't you worry about yourself." Carolina snarled back.

"I'm worried about the team. I was a lone wolf before I fought on Reach, so I know how to work alone and as a team." 6 replied.

The sound of live ammunition caught everyone's attention.

"Where did they get live ammo?" 6 asked.

"We should call the director." Wash said.

"Who do you think gave it to them?" CT replied.

"Why would the director do that?" 6 asked, watching the fight go on. Maine broke out of the lock-down paint and threw a grenade at Texas, who easily dodged it. The grenade landed next to York.

With nothing left to do, Texas fired her paintball pistol and York, covering him with the paint when the grenade detonated.

"Shit." 6 muttered, as he headed onto the floor.

"Can't believe she sacrificed him like that." South said.

"Lockdown paint hardens the armor. Probably saved his life." Wash retorted.

The director came out and the freelancers lined up.

"Agents, stand down! You should be ashamed of yourselves. I expect you to act as a team." The director said.

"Ashamed of what? They used live rounds, almost got themselves killed." 6 said.

"You think our enemies will care about regulations on the battlefield, noble 6?" the director asked.

"No. But they're not stupid enough to have a live fire training exercise while training themselves." 6 retorted.

"You're not punishing them?" Wash asked.

"Ingenuity and adaptability are necessary traits to survive. You should all learn something from this. Dismissed." The director said.

"Yeah. Learn something, alright." 6 muttered.

"I can't believe it." Wash exclaimed.

"Don't forget to check your place on that list, Wash." CT said as she walked away.

"Interesting." Carolina muttered, as she watched Texas stand up and walk away, her right shoulder shortening out.

6 followed York to the medical room and watched as they connected him to the life support systems.

"How's he doing?" 6 asked.

"He'll live, but he might lose his eye." The doctor said.

6 clenched his fists in anger and breathed in and out.

"I'll be busy." He muttered. The Spartan headed to the barracks and looked at the other agents.

"Where's Maine and Wyoming?" 6 asked.

"Watching Grifball. What do you need them for?" North asked.

"I want a match with them." 6 answered.

"The director said that we're to hold off the matches. We're close to another mission. Don't want us agents breaking any bones." North replied.

"I get the feeling we're being used as lab-rats." 6 said.


	5. Chapter 5

Ch 5

The agents were called into the briefing room, where the director was looking at a holo-table.

"Mission for us?" 6 asked.

"Yes, Noble 6. This mission is by far the most important you've taken to date. As our number one, Carolina will be leading from the field." The director said.

Carolina approached the table and activated it, showing a large city.

"As you may have heard, there is suspected insurrectionist activity in this area. Our intel says that members of the UNSC loyal to the insurrection have acquired a high-level asset and are holding it in this secure location." She said, as a tall building appeared on the holo-table.

"It's a 110-story building in the middle of an urban environment." Carolina continued.

"What does security look like?" Wyoming asked.

' _Jesus! It's a high-tier asset in a building that's 110 stories high. Use your fucking head! Security will be tight as hell!'_

"You can bet it's a lot, Wyoming. Always assume the worst before you enter combat." 6 snarked.

"Anyway. Our job is the infiltrate the building, grab the Sarcophagus and bug out." Carolina said.

'The Sarcophagus?" North asked.

"That is what we're calling it." The director said.

"But since this is a high-level asset, we'll need a key code to open it." Carolina said.

"I'm guessing they don't keep that just taped to the side." Wash said.

"It's held by an official of the program who will be moving in a vehicle along the freeway between inspection. That's when we'll hit the facility." Carolina explained.

"We'll need to hit both targets within minutes of each other." 6 noted.

"So, that means two teams." Wash said.

"Two teams. Team A will consist of me, 6, and Wash. We will work on infiltrating the facility. Wash, you'll need to hack into the locks, since York is in the infirmary." Carolina said.

"Hey, don't count me out so fast." York said, walking into the room.

"Thought you were in the hospital." Carolina said.

"According to their records, I am." York said.

"How's the eye?" Carolina asked.

"It's okay." York said.

"It's settled then. York will join team A." the director said.

"Transport will be two light pelicans. No weapons. Team B will be Maine, North, Wyoming, and CT. Team B will act as recon to team A. Once we enter the building, you will disengage to attack the target on the freeway." Carolina said.

"Who leads team B?" North asks.

"You will." Carolina answered.  
"What about South?" CT asked.

"Agent South will not be joining you on this mission." The director said.

"Then our chance of coming out alive just went thru the roof." 6 said.

"Guess the world's a tough place when you move down a rank." CT sarcastically said.

"And our new recruit? Will she be joining us?" CT asked.

"That's enough questions." The director said.

"Note he didn't say no." CT muttered to Wash.

"Team B should be simple. Team A, will have more of a challenge." Carolina said.

"You should know just how quickly things will chance in a firefight. Break preconceptions, and work with what you have." 6 said.

"Good words." Wash said.

"Thanks." 6 replied.

"The Sarcophagus is an unknown at the moment." Carolina said.

"How unknown?" Wash asked.

"Unknown that we don't knows its size and dimensions. We only know it will have these markings on it." Carolina said, as the holo-table showed another picture.

"I saw those markings on the oil platform." North said.

"Whoever owned the oil platform made the sarcophagus." 6 said.

"Do we know what's inside it?" Wash asked.

"We don't. Which is why you must get it back here in one piece." The director said.

"We have a job to do, people. Lets do it right and come home safe." Carolina said.

"That is all. Dismissed." The director said.

Two pelicans dropped out of the Frigate and headed towards the planet. Breaking atmo, they hugged the water and approached the city. Inside, the agents were quiet as they mentally prepared for the mission.

Noble 6 was busy checking his DMR and shotgun.

"Team A, you look clear. Window is open. Start your clock on my mark. Mark." North said.

"Roger that. Team A is moving." Carolina said.

"Copy that, Carolina. Good luck, team A." North said.

"Thanks. We won't need it." Carolina said.

"Spartans never die. What a joke." Six muttered in response, prompting York to look at him.

"You okay?" York asked.

"Just focus, York." Six said, as he stood up and approached the back of the pelican.

Approaching the building, the agents jumped out and headed towards the 110 foot building, weapons in hand.

"We're in. York, get over here." Carolina said, seeing a holographic lock.

"How long to crack that lock?" Carolina asked.

"Should be about 60 seconds. Give me 15." York said, as he started to break the holographic lock.

Just when York started to crack the lock, an alarm went off.

"Hurry up, York." Six replied, as he gripped his shotgun.

The door quickly opened and the alarm dissipated.

"Thanks York. But do something about that alarm system. We don't need any more surprises." Carolina advised.

"Does saying sorry count as something?" York casually asked.

"What you're supposed to say is, 'yes sir.' And focus on the goddamn mission." Six retorted, pushing York out of his way.

"We'll secure the package. Set some trackers and then find us a way out of here." Carolina said.

York left the room, while everyone else headed into another room, filled with weapons, mainly covenant.

"How the hell did they acquire such an arsenal?" Six muttered, as he put his DMR on a table and swapped it for a covenant Storm rifle.

"Carolina, motion sensors picked up an enemy team outside the door." York warned.

"Well lets hope they're not as good at picking locks as you are, York. Alright, team. We're about to have company." Carolina said.

"Boss, I have good news and bad news. We found what we're looking for. But it's on that." Wash said, pointing to a large heavy container.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me." Six muttered.

"Team A. I've got us an exit up here. Straight up the stairwell. Door to the roof. Helipad." York said over the radio.

"Copy. I'll radio air support." Carolina said, before she faced her team.

"How are we going to get that thing up to the roof?" She asked.

"I saw a window washing unit when we came in. We can use that." Six said.

"Good idea, six. York, six saw a window washing unit when we came in. Can you find where it attaches to the building?" Carolina asked.

"I see it. I'll send it down to you." York said.

"At least he's taking the mission seriously." Six responded.

"What are you doing?" Wash asked.

"Improvising." Carolina said.

"I hate it when we improvise." Wash said.

"How the hell are you still alive if you won't improvise on the battlefield?" six asked.

"Six, come here." Carolina said, as she pushed the Sarcophagus onto the window washing platform.

"What do you need me for?" Six asked, as he looked down and up; then he realized what he was needed for.

"This should be interesting." Six said, as he walked out of the window and fell towards the ground. Carolina shot one of the cables, and the unit speed up towards the roof. Meanwhile, six's freefall was ended as the cable snagged.

Six lurched forward and landed on one of the lower floors.

"Hold it right there, or we'll shoot?" one of the soldiers nervously asked, seeing the 7 foot tall Spartan.

"We're going to need bigger cuffs."

Six aimed his newly acquired plasma rifle at the enemy troops and hosed them with hot plasma, quickly killing them. Six started to jog, then ran at full speed towards the garage.

Entering the garage, he sat in a warthog and started the vehicle, when more enemy troops came in.

"This is not my day." He muttered, as he aimed the hood at them, and floored it. The sounds of breaking bones and crushed bodies were heard as he drove out of the facility.

A loud explosion was heard, and he looked up, seeing the rest of his team falling from the building.

"Shit." He muttered, and headed on an intercept course. He pressed the side of his helmet and calculated the rate of descent, distance to the interception, and the speed required to grab them. He flipped the transmission into over drive, and accelerated towards the crumbling building.

' _I can see this on the fake news. Charon Industries is an inside job. MAC rounds are incapable of melting steel beams. For gods sake. We use MAC's to break covenant ship shields and armor.'_

"3, 2, 1." He muttered, and the warthog dipped as York and Carolina fell into the seats.

"Are we in a car?" York asked.

Six didn't respond, as he weaved thru traffic, knocking one vehicle off the highway.

"Six, thanks for the save." Carolina said.


	6. Chapter 6

Ch 6

Driving down the street, Carolina got on the radio and contacted the second team.

"Team B, report!" She said.

"Team B is down! We have wounded and are under heavy fire!" North shouted, as gunfire was loudly heard in the background.

"Damn it." Six muttered, wishing he could help.

"We'll be right there." Carolina said.

"Negative. Get the package and get it out of the city." North said.

"I have their tracker, and the target's location." 6 said, as he observed his HUD.

"We'll cut them off at the overpass! Go!" Carolina urged.

Stepping on the accelerator, York approached the highway overpass and parked above the highway. The VIP's car came closer and closer.

Six dropped from the highway and landed on the car, his weight crushing the vehicle underneath.

"Well there goes the package." York said.

"Wrong, asshole." Six said, as he walked out of the wreckage, a blood-stained briefcase in his hands.

"Nice work, six." Carolina said, as the Spartan sat in the passenger seat.

"Drive." Six ordered.

The warthog sped down the highway as two enemy choppers plus jet-pack troopers came after them. Carolina hosed them with 20mm gunfire via the mini-gun, and six saw an enemy soldier land on a trailer in front of them.

Thinking quickly, he stood up and shot the enemy sniper with York's pistol.

"Thanks for the heads up." York said.

"Carolina, you need any help?" Six asked, as one of the pursuing choppers was destroyed by a rocket launcher.

"No. I don't." she growled, seeing agent Texas destroy the second chopper.

"York, punch it!" Six shouted, as enemy troops were surrounding them, keeping up thanks to their jet packs.

"Six, watch yourself!" Carolina shouted, as an enemy snuck up behind and stole the briefcase. He joined two more comrades onto a flat-bed trailer, that had many gasoline barrels on top.

"With you quit throwing shit at us?" York asked, as a barrel almost hit him.

"York, get me close." Six said, as he watched Carolina fight the three enemies.

Six jumped onto the trailer, storm rifle in hand. His view was quickly blocked as an inni attempted to move behind Carolina. Six grabbed him and threw him against the bed, breaking his neck.

"Six, another one!" Carolina shouted, as a sleeveless soldier ran into the Spartan, almost knocking him over. The hand to hand combat was brief and short, as Six grabbed the soldier's head between his hands and crushed the head, leaving a gruesome mess.

The last soldier backed away, as the two freelancers approached him. Carolina pulled out her pistol and shot him in the head. Grabbing the package, the two jumped back in the warthog and noticed more enemy soldiers approaching.

"Goddamn it! 479r, we need support now!" Six shouted, as he fired at the enemy soldiers, the storm rifle's limited range preventing him from killing many.

"Don't worry, we got your back." Wash said.

"I owe you one, Wash." Six said, as the pelican flew above the warthog. The back door opened, and Wash appeared firing a rocket pod at the enemy soldiers.

"They're falling back. Lets get the hell out of here." Carolina said.

Walking onto the pelican, Wash and six shook hands.

"Mission completed." Six said.

"Damn straight." North said.

 _Mother of Invention_

The director watched as the agents and technicians brought out the Sarcophagus and opened it. Inside, was a pink/purple alien.

"What is that?" South asked.

"We call them Engineers. Covenant used them as slave labor. Hundreds were killed back on New Mombassa during the war." Six said, prompting everyone to look at him.

"I've been going thru the files the UNSC had on the Covenant races. Real informative, now that we have the elites on our side." He said.

"Well, I'm beat. I'm going to hit the hay." York said.

"All agents, pay attention to the ranking board." The director said.

Six was the top agent, followed by Carolina, then Texas. Followed by York, Maine, and Washington.

"Damn it!" Carolina growled, seeing the Spartan one rank above her.

Walking out of the room, she threw her helmet against the wall.

"Man, she really wants to be the top dog." North said.

"She's not happy that we all came back in one piece? Hell, if she wanted to sacrifice all the agent so she could be the top dog, she'd probably do so." Six said.

"Woah, that's taking it too far." Wash said.

"Wash, I read your file. You attacked your squad leader, because he ordered his unit to attack a heavily fortified position, that was complete suicide. And your defending Carolina? Maybe she needs a good kick in the ass." Six said.

"And I'm sure you're the one to administer it." Wash said, as the two headed to the cafeteria.

"If she wants to fight me, so be it." Six said, when a thought came to his head.

"Have you heard what happened aboard the UNSC Atlas, before the war?" six asked.

"No. What happened?" Wash asked.

"The first batch of Spartans, Spartan-2s just completed their augmentations. John-117 went to the gym to exercise. Remember, he was 14 at the time. Instead of exercising, he fought 4 ODSTs. He killed 2 of them, and crippled another two. Imagine what a fully grown and experienced Spartan can do." Six said.

"You'd kill anyone in a hand to hand very easy." Wash realized.

"More like paint the walls and floor with their blood and guts." Six replied.

"That's something I didn't need to know." Wash said.

Six went towards the training room and watched Carolina practice her hand to hand.

"Run it again, Phyllis." Carolina said, when the match ended.

Six shook his head and walked out of the room.


	7. Chapter 7

Ch 7

Noble six walked into the director's office, and saluted him.

"Reporting as ordered, sir." He said.

"At ease, Spartan." The director said, musing that out of all his agents, Noble six was the only one who clung to his military training and etiquette.

"I've been going over your records since you were a Spartan. How would you like to have your own personal squad?" the director asked.

Noble's pupils narrowed; he was suspicious of the offer.

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"You're the top agent, and damn fine one at that. We're going to run into missions that require specific skills that you have. What agents would you trust with your life?" the director asked.

"None of them. They're a bunch of pompous assholes, who'll get each other killed. But if I had to choose, I'll choose Wash, North, Tex, maybe Maine for extra hands. Never spent much time with him." Six said.

"You left out the other top agents. Why?" the director asked.

"York and Wyoming have potential to be excellent soldiers, but they run their mouths off while we're in the middle of goddamned firefight! They make Jun look like the strong silent type. And that's something. CT…I get the feeling something's off about here, so I don't want her jeopardizing my personal team. South is a bitch, and unable to follow the most basic rules. Carolina is only about competition, no teamwork. That'll get people killed in the field. You can have the best army in the world, but with no teamwork, it's all for shit. I gave you the agents I'd take." Six said.

"Excellent. By the way, we're trying to work with AI. We've already got one ready for usage. As the top freelancer…" the director started.

"I'm going to let the other freelancers be the test subjects." Six said.

"Okay. I'll be sure to let the other freelancers know." The director said, when he noticed the Spartan pull out a shotgun.

"Pays to be prepared." Six said, as he walked out of the room.

In the training room, agents Wash, North, and Tex meet up.

"So the Spartan picked us for his group. Any idea?" Wash asked.

"You'll get the idea soon enough." Six said, as he walked into the room, reading _Enders Game_. He tossed the book behind him and approached the three freelancers.

"I picked you three because you three focus on the mission. Maine might join us when he recovers." Six said.

"Maine?" Tex asked.

"Yeah. He's good at doing the dirty gruesome stuff. But with his throat injury, he'll have to wait until some solution is made." Six said.

"Okay. So what's the plan?" North asked.

"We're going to run drills. Computer, Currahee, planet Reach." Six said.

The empty holographic room was changed into a large mountain range. The soldiers were at the bottom.

"You're to run all the way from here to the top and back. 3 miles up, and 3 miles down." Six said.

"That's easy." North said.

"After that, ya'll are to do sit-ups, push-ups, etc." six said.

"Oh." North said.

The 4 soldiers started to run, wearing their full armor and a rifle in their hands. In the observation deck, the other freelancers came to watch.

"Hold up!" six shouted, the three stopped at his command.

"Six?" Wash asked.

"Computer, end program." Six said, as the simulation ended, and the other agents walked into the room.

"More training?" South asked.

"You know, I'm glad ya'll are here. I have something to show all of you. You'll see what I went thru during the war." Six said as he walked towards the observation deck. In the room, he brought up a simulation of a battle during the human covenant war. The fall of Alexandria during the fall of Reach.

"What you're about to experience in the fall of Alexandria. The city was ransacked and destroyed by the covenant. Thousands of civilians were killed, while only hundreds escaped. Your mission objective is simple. Kill all the aliens." Six said.

"That should be easy." Carolina said.

"You're facing hunters, brutes, elites, grunts, and jackals. Trust me. It won't be easy." Six said, the last part coldly.

The simulation changed to a hill, overlooking a city. The remains of a covenant supercarrier lay in the gully, while debris came down like a meteor shower.

"Well, shit." Wash said.

"You heard him. Lets move." Tex said.

The freelancers headed up the hill and saw the city of New Alexandria, burning and under siege by 3 covenant corvettes. Anti-air fire filled the skies, and the covenant warships hosed the emplacements with plasma fire in return. UNSC and covenant aircraft dueled in the skies above the city, each claiming kills of their own.

"Anyone want to guess how many aliens are there?" York asked.

"York, stow it. You might survive if you keep your mouth shut." Tex sharply said.

The squad got closer to the city and dropped into an alley way, where they picked up frantic UNSC chatter.

"This is Kilo dispatch: all available teams advance to Traxus Tower. Evac will commence ASAP."

"Copy that. What's the status of the tower pad?"

"Green for now. Lets move these civilians before it changes."

The freelancers pulled out their pistols, and stumbled across a batch of skirmishers, who fired their plasma pistols at the humans.

"These bastards are real squirmy." South growled, as she missed a skirmisher.

"Aim for the torso. Then blow their brains out." Wash said, as he nailed a skirmisher.

The last skirmisher was killed, and they walked into a building.

"Well, they weren't so tough at all." York smirked.

"Romeo Company, we got reports of covenant suicide squads."

"You've got to be kidding me!"

"That's a negative. Keep your eyes open, troopers."

"Any idea what that is?" CT asked.

"A grunt ignites two plasma grenades and runs at you, hoping to kill you. Little bastards." Wash muttered.

"You experienced something like that?" Carolina asked.

"For the prophets!" a grunt yelled, and ran at the team, two brightly glowing plasma grenades activated in his hands.

"Kill it!" Wash shouted, as they hosed the grunt with pistol fire.

The grunt was killed, and the two grenades spilled onto the ground and detonated.

"They're that easy to kill. I don't see what the problem is." South said.

"I'm guessing they attack in numbers." North said, as they walked into another hallway, and saw two grunts ignite their grenades and run at them. They were quickly dispatched by the volume of gunfire.

The ground violently shook as a missile battery fired at the corvette, yet it didn't slow it down.

"Damn! How do you stop that thing?!"

Entering the basement, they a dozen grunts ignite their grenades, and run at them.

"Oh shit!" York shouted, as the grunts came at them full tilt. The freelancers exhausted most of their ammunition in killing the little bastards.

"Okay. I hope that's all of it." CT said, as they exit the building. The freelancers grab various weapons lying on the ground, better arming themselves.

"Somebody help us!"

The freelancers followed several army troopers, as they saw brutes killing civilians. One brute threw a young woman on the ground, and crushed her spine, leaving a gruesome mess on the ground.

"Noo!" someone yelled, as a brute picked him up and bit his head off.

The freelancers stood for a second, shocked by the carnage.

"I'm gonna be sick." Carolina said, as she grabbed her stomach.

"Snap out of it!" Tex shouted, as she walked forward, and hosed the brute with rifle fire.

"She's right. Lets take them out." North said.

The brute walked forward, unfazed by the gunfire it was receiving. Tex unloaded a clip, and the brute backhanded her, sending her flying against a wall.

"What does it take to kill those things?" York asked, as the brute was finally killed.

"A lot, apparently." Wash said.

The freelancers, sans Tex, headed down a pair of stairs and saw two grunts walk out of an atrium. The grunts were quickly killed, and two elites came out, and hosed them with plasma fire.

"Get to cover!" Wash shouted, as he ducked behind a wall.

"What the hell are those things?" Wyoming asked.

"Those are elites. The muscle of the covenant military." Wash said.

South rose up and hosed the nearest elite with gunfire, only to see its shields absorb the fire.

"You've got to be kidding me." South said, as the elite threw a plasma grenade at her, sticking on her armor.

"Oh son of a-" the grenade exploded, leaving south unconscious.

York and Wyoming brought down one of the elites with sniper fire, as the high caliber bullets easily took down the shields. The second elite was quickly dispatched thanks to a shotgun blast from York.

"Inside, move!" a trooper shouted, as they headed into the atrium. CT approached the elevator and pressed the button, but nothing happened.

"What's taking this elevator so long?" a soldier asked.

"We're evacuating a group of civilians on the floor below you. Soon as they reach the cargo port, I'll send the elevator back up."

"Dropships! They're pulling into the courtyard, watch your flanks! Find cover, and stay sharp. We have to hold this position."

"We're in for a long fight." Carolina muttered.


	8. Chapter 8

Ch 8

A long burst of gunfire was heard, as a jury-rigged 20mm chain gun mowed down the covenant attackers.

"Keep up the fire, Wash!" North shouted, as he shot a brute in the head.

"No kidding!" Wash replied.

"We have a problem!" Carolina shouted.

"What kind of problem?!" Wash shouted, as he reloaded the chain gun.

A loud roar was heard, and agents CT and Wyoming were sent flying against the wall, the simulation branding them as KIA.

A brute chieftain appeared, holding a large gravity hammer.

"Oh shit!" Wash shouted, as he yanked the mini gun off the sandbags and rolled out of the way.

York appeared behind the chieftain and shot him in the back with his shotgun. The brute fell dead, only for a phantom dropship to appear over the atrium and hose the area with plasma fire.

"Oh shit!" York shouted, as a plasma round hit him, knocking him out.

"Damn it!" Carolina growled, as they entered the elevator and headed down a floor.

"If you're trying to reach the pad, you're too late. Covenant bombed the hell out of it. Cargo port is impassable on foot, rooftop evac's a wash. We could use the executive landing pad, 'cept there's no easy way to get there. A group of ODST specialists are working a plan... they might appreciate some backup."

The elevator stops, and the 3 freelancers walked out.

"On the other side of the hall there. Right past the triage."

The three walked out the door and saw some ODSTs firing rocket launchers at the banshees.

"There they are."

"Radio's buzzing about you, freelancers. Feel like jumping?"

The three grabbed jetpacks and joined the ODSTs as they jumped from one platform to the next.

"I hope these banshees don't get us." North said.

Arriving at the port, a brief firefight occurs as the freelancers and ODSTs engage the covenant forces. Instead of facing brutes, they now face more elites.

"What the fuck's with these bastards?" Wash asked.

The elites hosed the battlefield with plasma fire, being more of a threat than the brutes. Carolina threw several grenades at the covenant forces, clearing a path.

"Hurry! Before more of them arrive!" Carolina shouted.

"Behind you!" North shouted, as an elite major appeared, brandishing an energy sword.

"Really? A sword?" Carolina asked, as the much larger alien approached her. Raising her rifle, she pulled the trigger and watched as the alien's shields easily absorbed the gunfire. The elite held his sword in front, blocking the bullets.

Carolina pulled out a knife, and charged the alien, only to end up with an energy sword in her chest. She dropped to the floor, also KIA. The sword wielding alien approached the remaining two freelancers.

"Oh god!" North shouted, when Wash searched the battlefield for anything that could be of use to stop him. He grabbed a plasma pistol, covered with blood, and held down the trigger.

"What are you doing?" North asked.

"This!" Wash shouted, and released the bolt of energy at the elite. He stumbled back as the energy drained his shields. North put a round in the bastard's head, killing it.

"Grab a plasma pistol. It'll come in handy." Wash advised.

The two freelancers headed to the top of the tower, where a firefight was occurring.

"North, get that sniper!" Wash said, as he fired at the grunts coming down a stairway.

With the grunts killed, the soldiers headed up the stairs, only to find more covenant soldiers, and two grunts wielding fuel rod cannons.

"Get the grunts!" an odst shouted, firing his DMR at one of the grunts.

"North, use the grenades." Wash advised, as he primed a grenade and threw it at the aliens, killing a few.

"Finally, we're at the pad." North said.

The soldiers entered the building, where brute chieftains directed a large contingent of infantry.

"Clear that pad, freelancers."

Wash grabs a shotgun and heads on the upper level, shooting a brute in the face. He walks forward, shooting more aliens and walked to the main level, meeting with North. The two walked onto the pad, and stared down the barrel of two fuel rod turrets, and two hunters.

"Oh son of a-" All four enemy weapons unloaded high energy plasma at the two freelancers, killing them.

' _Simulation ends.'_

Six walked onto the holodeck, and watched as the freelancers weakly stood up.

"Yeah. I fought in that war, against the covenant not just on Reach, but also on other engagements, before the fall of Reach. What you experienced, is just a fraction of the entire human covenant war." Six said, as he walked back onto the observation deck, followed by the freelancers.

"What you're about to see, is combat that I've been through. Combat against the covenant." Six said.

The holodeck changed to another formation. It showed noble six fighting the covenant in a desert setting. He tore thru the aliens like they were nothing. The freelancers could barely keep up as he moved like a flash of light.

"Can anyone be a Spartan?" Wash asked.

"I've recently heard about a fourth Spartan program. Weather that works or not, is up to anyone's guest." Six said.

"You don't think it'll work?" Carolina asked.

"Time will tell." Six said.

In the bridge, the director chuckled as he watched the whole debacle.

"You're laughing at this?" the Alpha asked.

"Alpha, I had the feeling six wouldn't kill or seriously harm them. In fact, this may help the freelancers. They might show more respect towards him." The director said.

In the barracks, six was laying in his bunk when Carolina came in.

"Hey, Spartan. Can we talk?" Carolina asked.

"Sure thing." Six said.

"I have to admit. I'm a little jealous. I was the top freelancer, until you and Tex showed up. Especially you. Come fresh from the war, and you plow right through the innie's like they were nothing. Of course, it helps that you're an augment." Carolina said.

"True. But I was an augment after my family was murdered. When I was 4 years old, the Covenant attacked the planet I was on. We barely escaped with our lives." Six said.

Carolina couldn't answer. That explained his rage towards the covenant. The augmentations only helped.

"I don't know what to say." She said.

"There's nothing to say. The war is over, or so they say. I wouldn't be surprised if some splinter group is still out there, causing havac." Six said.

"So, you want some lunch?" Carolina asked.

"Sure thing." Six said.


	9. Chapter 9

Ch 9

The mess hall was busy with activity, and the one thing the freelancers were talking about, was the covenant war. Six smirked as the realization hit the freelancers, that they were not the top of the food chain.

"Spartan, can we talk?" Wyoming asked.

"What about?" Six asked.

"We'd like you to train us, to fight the covenant." Wash said.

"I don't have time for bullshit. In that simulation, Wash and North were the only one's who got that far. They didn't even complete the mission. The covenant incinerated the entire city, killed everyone." Six said.

"What if we encounter this covenant?" Wyoming asked.

Six stood up and left the mess hall.

"I'll go talk to him." Carolina said, and followed him.

"Six, what's your problem?" she asked.

"My problem. I was with a team, who was unified in everything they did. Now, I'm working with a team, that is fighting against each other. The director is leading you guys to your deaths!" Six said.

"Six, the director is giving everything to us. He's helping us." Wash said.

"You want to be a sheeple, be my guest. In the meantime, follow me." Six said, as they headed to the holo room.

"Another simulation?" South asked.

"None of you are participating in it. I'll show you what I'm capable of doing. This is from a battle I participated in during the fall of Reach." Six said, as he headed to the armory and grabbed an assault rifle, and a covenant focus rifle.

"What is that?" North asked.

"Covenant sniper rifle." Six said.

"Impressive." CT said.

' _Simulation begins'_

Six found himself inside a warthog, sitting in the driver's seat. Driving was Kat, and June and Jorge were providing air support in a Falcon chopper above them.

"Six, you ready?" Kat asked.

"Ready, Kat." Six said.

Banshee's came into view, and fired onto the convoy. The gunners in the convoy retaliated, filling the sky with gunfire. Kat dodges the incoming mortar rounds, and heads towards a bridge.

"Incoming!" Six shouts, as the bridge is destroyed by a mortar round.

"Might want to hold onto something." Kat says, as she guns it.

The warthog clear the opening, but crashes upon landing, tossing the two Spartans out. Six quickly gets up, grabbing his rifle.

"Kat, Six, what's your status?" Carter asks.

"Pylons are down, we're pushing up the hill." Kat says.

Six runs forward, shooting at any covenant that get in his way. His target, is one of two fuel shade rod turrets that are firing at him. He circles around the turret and quickly kills the grunt, then sits in the seat.

The HUD compensates for the alien weapon, and he grabs the duel controls. He swings the turret around, and when the crosshairs turn red, he pulls the trigger. A large green plasma round hits an elite, draining his shields and killing him.

"One down." He mutters, as he faces the other turret and pulls the trigger. The next plasma round hits the enemy turret, and destroyed it.

"Well done, Six." Kat said, as a pelican appeared, dropping a warthog, with a rocket launcher on the back.

"Kat, be advised. ONI has identified two hostile anti-air guns southwest of your position." Carter said.

"Copy, commander. Six, shut down those AA guns. Get us there." Kat said.

Six drove towards the AA guns, killing some jacks in the process. The belly of the warthog was decorated with their blood and guts.

"There they are!" the army trooper says, firing the rockets at the covenant forces.

"Two Lima Four to Noble one. Those AA guns are pounding us with high velocity plasma shells!"

"Which would mean, a strike by the frigate Grafton is also out of the question." Six said.

"Noble six, get those guns offline." Carter orders.

"Working on it." Six says, as he runs onto a revenant; the smaller cousin of the wraith-tank. He kicks the driver out, and the passenger jumps out, only to receive a plasma round to the face.

"Man, he's good." Carolina said.

"Yeah. He is." Wash said.

Six presses the peddle and runs over a squad of jackals, and kills an Elite. Approaching the back end of the anti-air gun, he notices an elite wearing gold armor, and holding a fuel rod cannon. He turns the vehicle towards the elite and pulls the trigger. The plasma round hits the elite, disabling his shields.

The elite roars, only to be ran over by the Spartan.

"Kat, I could use some help over here." He said, as he backs away from the aliens, firing the plasma cannon as fast as it reloads.

"Six, you're clear." Kat says.

The Spartan carefully drives the revenant inside the AA gun, and fires at the core. The core explodes, an alarm now ringing. Six drives out of the turret, and watches it explode.

"Look at that, Six." Kat says, as two heavy frigates appear, escorted by dozens of longsword bombers and Falcons.

"Give them hell." Six mutters, as they pour their deadly fire on the covenant forces, destroying three scarabs.

The two Spartans sit in the revenant and drive away towards the second AA gun. They climb a small hill, and watch a Pelican drop off a portable bridge. Heading across the bridge, they come across a large mining facility.

UNSC soldiers were busy fighting the covenant forces, as they slowly crossed the bridge.

"Noble Six, there's a mining facility near your location. The Covenant are using it as a command outpost. Troopers on-site have already engaged." Carter informs.

"We see it." Kat says.

Six drives across the bridge and rams a plasma turret. The two climb out, and engage the covenant forces on foot.

"New intelligence: friendly forces near the Covenant outpost have spotted a high-value target. An elite Zealot in fact."

"A zealot? We're onto something big, commander." Kat says.

"Eyes on the prize. If you see that zealot, take it out and keep moving toward the spires." Carter said.

Six takes point, and moves across the metal gangplank, killing grunts and jackals as they come. At one point, he hoses a large red fuel tank with rifle fire until it explodes, killing 4 grunts next to it.

"Messy, and effective." Kat says.

The Spartans head onto the upper floor, where they see an elite manning a plasma cannon.

"Six, get to cover!" Kat shouts, as the elite hoses the area with the plasma cannon.

Six notices another fuel tank, conveniently placed next to the elite.

"What an idiot." he muttered, as he primed a plasma grenade. He threw the grenade, and watched as it landed on the outer hull. The grenade detonated and the fuel tank ruptured as well.

The elite was not lucky, as gallons of explosive fuel killed him. A roasted corpse was all that remained.

"He knows how to blow shit up." York said.

Six slung his rifle and grabbed the plasma cannon, holding it as if it were a rifle. He walked over the ledge and into the quarry. He calmly walked towards the stairs, and watched as special ops grunts came to face him. And were promptly killed in the process.

Reaching the top of the stairs, he faced down the zealot and pulled the trigger. He walked closer, giving the zealot all the plasma he needed. The zealot was killed, and the covenant forces ran in response.

"High-value target eliminated. Impressive, six." Kat said.

Even though it was a simulation, Six couldn't help but smile. It was great to work with noble team again.

Reaching the end of the facility, Six spots a plasma launcher on the ground, and swaps his assault rifle for it.

"All freelancers, report to the briefing room." The director said over the PA system.

"Computer, end simulation." Six said, and watched as the battle ended, leaving a cold holographic room as his view.

"Come on, Six. Lets go." Carolina said.


	10. Chapter 10

Ch 10

The freelancers headed back to the simulation room, after a meeting with the director. He told them that were going to conduct experiments with AI very soon. Six just wanted to show the freelancers the rest of the mission.

"So, Six. You going to show us the rest of the mission?" Tex asked.

"Damn straight." He said, as he walked into the simulation room.

The room returned to where he left off. Six grabbed the plasma launcher and put it on his back, the focus rifle in his hands. Exiting the building, they see two grunts. Six hoses one grunt with his rifle, melting it to death. The second grunt gets on a ghost and attempts to run. Six zooms in on the covenant vehicle, and pulls the trigger.

A beam of plasma hits the fuel tank, and a second later, an explosion is heard.

"Fuck me." Kat muttered, as she sat in the passenger seat of the parked revenant. Six sat in the driver's seat and drove towards the second AA gun.

They ran over some grunts and headed over the ridge, heading towards the second AA gun, that was heavily guarded by dozens of covenant infantry and two wraiths.

"Well fuck." Kat muttered.

Six floored it, and splattered several jackals in the process.

"Watch the wraith, Six!" Kat shouted, as a wraith noticed them.

The covenant tank fired a plasma round, missing the Spartans.

"That's right. Keep coming." Six muttered, as he returned the greeting, the weaker plasma round impacting on the wraith.

The wraith then speed forward, and missed its target. The tank went right over the cliff, and into a large lake.

"Well, that's one way to get rid of a tank." Kat said, as the second wraith fired at them.

"Jump for it!" Six shouted, as the plasma round tore into the revenant, destroying it.

"We have to take out that wraith!" Kat shouted.

"No shit!" Six retorted, as he aimed his plasma launcher at the wraith and pulled the trigger. Four large blobs of plasma struck the tank.

"Is that a spider?" the gunner asked, as the four plasma rounds exploded, destroying the tank.

"Well, that'll make our job a lot easier." Kat said.

The two headed towards the AA gun, and encountered two hunters.

"We don't have time for this shit!" Six muttered, as they were engaged in a firefight.

"They're dead." Wash said.

Six and Kat used all the grenades they could scavenge from the battlefield, mainly from the dead covenant forces.

The two headed inside the gun and broke the shield that protected the core. They fired into the core, and just like the last gun, the gun went on a countdown to detonation.

"Well done, Six. ONI needs up-close recon on those spires. We're going to fly you the rest of the way." Carter said.

A Falcon landed, and Jorge was sitting in the gunner's seat.

"Spotted some nasty business in the canyon on the way down." Jorge said.

The chopper heads down the canyon, and six fires his mounted grenade launcher on covenant forces trying to cross the bridge.

"Nice shooting, Spartan." The pilot said, as he flew them towards the spire; Jorge and Six firing at the covenant forces.

"There's the spire." The pilot says.

"Well take us in." Six says.

The pilot moves thru the shield, and the EMP knocks out their power.

"Lock your armor, Spartan!" Jorge shouted.

"Brace for impact!" the pilot shouts, just before they crash.

Six wakes up, seeing the destroyed Falcon. He grabs his focus rifle, and spots several grunts and jackals approaching them across the river.

The two Spartans move up the hill, eliminating all the covenant forces that oppose them. Upon reaching the top of the hill, they see a phantom appear out of nowhere, and fly out of the barrier with no problem, only to get shot down by the Grafton.

"Frigate Grafton is on-station to kill that spire, but you need to power down its shields." Carter said.

"Six, head to the top. I'll hold these bastards off." Jorge said.

Six grabs a jet pack, and uses it to propel himself across the ground and towards the gravity lifts. Entering one, he ascends to the top.

"Time to end it." Six muttered, as he walks inside the control room, and kills the grunts guarding it.

An elite ultra draws out its energy sword and moves to engage him. The elite runs forward, occasionally taking fire from the Spartan. He swings his sword, only for the plasma blade to embed itself in the outer metal of the control room.

Six grabs the elite and throws him off the spire, hearing his screams as he falls to the ground, many miles below.

"Lt, drop the shields and get out of there!" Carter advises.

Six presses a button and, and the shields drop. He run at full tilt, and jumps as he hits the ledge. Jorge catches him, and pulls him into the falcon.

"Control, this is noble one. Spire on is green. Kill it." Carter says.

The UNSC Grafton approaches the spire in a steep dive, charging the main gun.

A loud booming noise is heard, as the MAC destroys the spire. An explosion is heard, and the Spartans turn around.

"No. No! Someone tell me this isn't happening!" Jorge frantically said.

"UNSC Grafton, do you copy?"

"Grafton is dust! We need to get out of here, now!" Carter shouts back.

A massive covenant super carrier is shown in full view, hovering over the field.

"Computer, end simulation." Six said.

The holo-chamber returns to its original form, the freelancers watching.

"I can't believe that. That ship just…" North said.

"It was a massive warship." Carolina said.

Six headed to the control room and pressed in a few commands.

"Before you discount that, Carolina, look at this." Six said.

The holochamber turned into Six's HUD on the next mission, when he took down the supercarrier. Right now, Six was on a covenant corvette.

"The ship I'm on, is a covenant corvette. One of the smallest vessels in the covenant fleet, comparable to our frigates." Six said, watching as the HUD showed him killing an elite.

The HUD turned to see a row of four plasma cannons firing at another UNSC frigate. All four guns fired at once. The plasma torpedoes tore into the frigate, and the UNSC vessel exploded.

"We were that outnumbered and outgunned during the war?" South asked.

"We were. Hell, the fact that we lasted 30 years is a miracle of itself." Six said.


	11. Chapter 11

Ch 11

Six watched as the doctors operated on Agent York, implanting the AI, Delta.

"Is this safe, let alone legal?" Six asked.

"Well, project freelancer marches on." Carolina said, standing next to the much taller Spartan.

"I know. So where do you think the AI comes from?" Six asked.

Carolina was about to answer, but didn't when the door opened, and the director came in.

"Come with me. You're needed for a briefing." The director said.

The two headed to the briefing room, where they found the rest of the freelancers. The director pulled up a large holograph of an inni fortress.

"We've tracked down the leader of the insurrectionist to this large base. It is heavily defended and filled to the brim with soldiers. While the mother of invention engages enemy forces, all freelancers are to head toward the main hanger bay." Once you secure it, scour the facility until you find the leader, and kill him." The director said.

"What if he escapes?" Wash asked.

The director smirked in response.

"He won't." the director said.

"Yeah. And Reach wasn't supposed to fall." Six muttered in response.

The Spartan left the briefing and headed to the gym, where Carolina found him lifting two tons of weights.

"Two thousand pounds?" Carolina asked, watching Six easily bench-press them.

"Yep. And you honestly think this next mission was be successful?" Six asked, as he put the bar on the post.

"I think so. Why do you think not?" Carolina asked.

"We only have one ship. We don't know how many ship this innie base has. Even if it's just fighters and troop transports, the leader can hop on one and leave in the chaos of battle. Not everything is clean cut. War is a messy and chaotic business." Six said.

"We understand that." Carolina said, referring to the freelancers.

"I highly doubt it." Six responded.

"What's your problem, Six? You've been like this since we found you. Always cynical and a loner. You refuse to get to know any of the freelancers." Carolina said.

"Right now, being a lone wolf is much better than working with the freelancers. You're taking a bunch of lone wolfs, telling them to act as a team, while nurturing their lone wolf tendencies. It doesn't work." Six said.

"Listen, you need to put that aside and lead us into the next fight." Carolina said.

"Funny. I was going to tell you freelancers a similar thing." Six said.

The two stared each other down, when Carolina blinked first. She left the room, leaving Six alone.

"Computer, Sum 41: War. Max volume setting."

"So, how's the Spartan?" York asked, running into Carolina.

"The usual. Cynical, brooding, doesn't trust us." Carolina said.

"I should talk to him. Maybe change his mind." York said.

"York, wake the fuck up. The only freelancers he has a remote interest in working with, is Maine, Wash, and North. And maybe Tex." Carolina said.

"I'll see if one of them can talk to him." York said.

"York, maybe we should just let him be. If any of us tries to go and talk to him, he'll wonder if we're planning something against him." Carolina said.

"This is a first." York said.

"York, I'm serious. We've all seen him in that simulation. He fought against pure nightmares, and came out on top. Honestly, if he wanted to kill every one of us, there's nothing we can do." Carolina said.

The director went over his latest calculations for the AI program.

"Well, Delta was a success." Alpha said.

"Yes, he is. And more AI will be coming forth. Get ready, Alpha." The director said.

CT sat in her quarters, going over all the current intel about the director's AI program. She couldn't believe it. The director was torturing the main AI, and he was dragging his agents down with him.

"Conni, what are you doing?" the insurrectionist leader asked.

"Keep it down. I don't have much time. We're going to attack your base. Stay hidden, and give me your location." She harshly whispered.

"I'll send you the data. When will you attack?" he asked.

"In two days." CT said.

"I'll be sure to roll out the red carpet. Keep your head down, and good luck." He said.

 _Two Days Later_

 _Freelancer assault on enemy base_

"Listen up. We're here for the inni leader. This is the only base for them to go to. Use your jet packs sparingly. You don't want to end up like agent Georgia." Six said, the leader of the freelancers.

"What happened to agent Georgia?" Wash asked.

"No-one knows! They never found him!" South replied.

"Lovely." Six muttered.

The team leaped from the pelican and entered the forward hanger bay, encountering heavy resistance. Six aimed his assault rifle at the inni's and pulled the trigger.

"Guys, things are going to get floaty." Wash said.

Six quickly activated his gravity boots, and continued to hose the enemy troops with gunfire.

"This is better than grifball." Wyoming said.

"What the fuck is that?" Six asked.

"It's some game that was created just after the war." York said over the com, still in space.

"Lovely." Six muttered, as the freelancers regrouped.

"Carolina, North, secure that hallway. South, see if you can access the leader's location. CT, get me- Where the hell is CT?" Six shouted.

Distant gunfire was heard, then all was silent. South came back to Six.

"His last check in is upstairs in the main deck, but his callsign just appeared in their internal frequencies. He's broadcasting from out in Bone Valley." South said.

"So we came here for nothing. Alright. We're heading there." Six said.

The freelancers stood in a line, and looked as York as he flew in the hanger.

"It's nuts out there." He said.

"Get up, York. We're heading to boneyard valley." Six said.

"Over there?" York asked.

"That's where the leader is." Six said, as he ran towards the end of the hanger and activated his jet-pack, directing himself at the boneyard.

The freelancers flew behind the Spartan, and noticed something odd.

"It's too quiet." Six muttered.

"Hello, is anyone out there?!" York shouted.

"York, save your strength. They're not going to hear us in the emptiness of space." Six retorted.

Six held his arm up, showing a clenched fist.

"You see something?" Carolina asked.

"North, give me your rifle." Six said, swapping his assault rifle with the sniper rifle.

Six looked thru the scope and slowly scanned the area to his 11 o clock. That bit of debris was suspicious.

"Everyone, head back to the Mother of Invention. I'm going to look around." Six said.

The Spartan headed towards the debris, constantly running his eyes over it. His eyes widened in shock, as the debris came to life. Instead of useless junk, Six came face to face with a UNSC destroyer, bearing down on the Mother of Invention. Not wanting to face down a warship, he fled back to meet with the rest of the freelancers.

"How the hell did we miss it?" Carolina asked.

"Don't know, but we're in the shit now." Six said, as the comms were busy with frantic chatter, as the two warships slugged it out.

"Why are they retreating?" South asked, seeing the destroyer pass over the Freelancer warship.

"Because they're going to let something else complete the job." Six said, 47niner completing his sentence.

"Guys, get out of there! They outfitted that piece of junk with nukes!"

"Well fuck me." Six calmly retorted, and increased the acceleration on his jet pack, heading towards the pelican.

Most of the freelancers got inside the pelican, except Wash.

"Wash, get the fuck over here!" Six shouted.

"I don't want to end up like Georgia!" Wash frantically said.

"Oh for god's sake." Carolina growled, and fired her grappling gun at the freelancer. The hook attached itself to Wash's cod piece, and Carolina pulled him inside the pelican.

"Punch it." North said to the pilot.

The nuke detonates, and the Pelican escapes the explosion.

"That was a close one." The pilot said.

"What the hell just happened? Tell me you accomplished your mission." The director said.

"No, sir. The leader escaped." Six said.

"Looks like the enemy lives to fight another day." North said.

"Again." South said.

"That is most unfortunate. Are all agents accounted for?" the director asked.

"All except CT. She's gone." Six reported.

"Define gone, agent." The director said.

"She defected to the innies. That's gone." Six said.


	12. Chapter 12

Ch 12

 _One month after CT's defection_

Six stormed out of the locker room, and grabbed a shotgun in the process. He headed towards the communications room and pulled up all the comm chatter that CT gave to the inni leader.

Suddenly, a knock on the door alerted him. He aimed his shotgun at the door, yelling a warning.

"Busy here!"

"It's important. North wants to show us something." York said.

"Not in the mood. Go on without me." Six said, and lowered the shotgun when he heard York leave the room.

Six went through the chatter the computers recorded. He noticed a recurring pattern, that CT had discovered something about project Freelancer.

"What did you discover?" Six mutters.

"Spartan, you're needed for a viewing. It's important that you participate." The director said, his voice muffled thanks to the steel door.

"Copy that." Six said, as he shut down the computer.

Six opened the door, and followed the director. He headed to the familiar holo room and noticed other freelancers in the observation booth.

"What's going on?" Six asked.

"Delta, you'll administer the test. Gentlemen, if you'll take the floor." The director said.

"Sir, what test are you talking about?" Six asked.

"You'll find out soon enough." The director said.

Six watched as four mini guns appeared onto the floor, all pointed at North. Just as they open fired, a doomed energy shield was activated and protected North.

"As you may recall, North used his equipment in the field on a previous mission." The director said.

"He was able to successfully maintain the deflective shield for 3.4 seconds in order to block an explosive projectile attack." Delta said.

"And managed to not kill himself in the process." The director mused.

"The maneuver only had a 1% chance of survival. Had he done it 999 more times, I'm rather certain he would have been killed." Delta said.

"Hey, I'd rather be lucky than good any day." York said.

"That explains you're a cyclops. You should be dead right now." Six said.

"Delta, reduce shield strength by 50%." The director said.

The shield lost power, and only 4 large points were available to protect North. The turrets began to gyrate, moving above and around North. The critical shield tiles move in line with the turrets.

"Excellent. Reset." The director said. The turrets fell to the ground, and the shield was restored to full power.

"Agent North. Your objective is to eliminate the targets." The director said.

More turrets appeared, and all started firing. North aimed, and fired. Six's 'Spartan time' watched as the energy shield disappeared for a fraction of a second, allowing the bullet to clear the perimeter. The shield returned to full power mili seconds after the bullet left the shield perimeter.

"That was incredible!" Wash said, as North eliminated the targets.

"What did I tell ya?" York asked.

"And you're sure they don't get any bigger?" Wash asked.

"What doesn't get any bigger?" Six asked.

"The AI me and North have. They're not that big." York said.

Couple days later, six ran into Carolina. He was on his way to the gym to exercise, wearing a T-shirt and shorts.

"Hey, Six. You hear about the news?" Carolina asked.

"What news?" Six asked.

"We're supposed to be getting more AI. Where they are coming from, no-one knows." Carolina said.

"Carolina, I have a bad feeling about this. Recently, I was going through the messages that CT gave to the inni leaders. She said that the director was doing something wrong. She claimed he was doing projects that were going to bite him in the ass." Six said.

"What kind of projects?" Carolina asked.

"I don't know. I never found out. But it does give me reason to worry." Six said.

"What kind?" Carolina asked, as they headed to the gym.

"Why would CT suddenly turn tail and head towards the enemy? She knows we'll kill her. There's no reason to risk death, unless there's something you're willing to trade your life for. Whatever intel she has on us, is well worth the risk." Six said.

"Pity. But it has to be done." Carolina said.

Six studied Carolina, now that she wasn't wearing her armor, instead wearing a shirt and yoga pants. She had red hair, green eyes, and pale skin. And she had an attractive figure. Having been a soldier for most of his life, he never stopped to appreciate the finer things in life.

"Six, you okay?" Carolina asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Six replied.

"You looked like you were staring into space." Carolina said.

"Thousand yard stare." Six said, hoping she would buy it. He did see all kinds of hell that would traumatize anyone.

"Sure thing." Carolina said, as she started to stretch. Six stood and watched as Carolina easily pushed herself.

"Were you a gymnast or something?" Six asked.

"No. But I'm a very good hand to hand fighter. I find being agile to be more helpful than having brute strength." Carolina said.

"When fighting the covenant, you'll need both, not just one." Six said.

"You got brute strength. And from what I can tell, you definitely got the agility." Carolina said, as she spread her legs wide open and leaned forward.

"Wow. That's impressive." Six said.

"How about a flexibility contest?" Carolina asked.

"Are you serious?" Six asked, as he removed his helmet.

"Afraid you'll lose?" Carolina teased.

"I'm afraid you'll lose. I'm a super soldier. Whatever you can do, I can do better." Six said.

"Prove it." Carolina said.

Six sat down opposite of Carolina and spread his legs wider than Carolina did, and leaned forward, flat on his stomach.

"Show off. And no guy should do that." Carolina said.

"Here's one." Six said, as he closed his legs and stood up.

In the observation booth, South and Wash watched.

"Funny. The most competitive freelancer, and the most badass freelancer, acting as if they're a couple." Wash said.

South gave Wash an odd look.

"Wow. When did you get philosophical?" South asked.

"Six must be rubbing off." Wash said.

"Well, I doubt that'll last long. You said so yourself. Carolina is the most competitive freelancer in the group. Won't be long until she stabs Six, or anyone of us, in the back." South said.

"Like CT." Wash deadpanned.

Carolina charged Six, only for Six to grab her and easily threw her to the ground. Carolina quickly stood up and circled Six. Six purposely stood in his place, and waited for Carolina to approach his back.

Carolina then looked at Six, noticing his 6 foot 9 inch frame. She barely hit 5 foot 10 inches. With a war cry, she jumped onto Six's back, wrapping her legs around his waist, and trying to wrap her arms around his neck.

"Bad mistake. I weigh 300 without the armor. And you don't have the physical strength to crush my windpipes." Six said, as he reached around and lifted Carolina in front and above him, as if she were a mere piece of paper.

Carolina frowned at the super soldier, angry that he had easily beaten her.

"It is how it is."

Carolina still had one last trick up her sleeve. She pulled her right leg back, and swung it hard against his crotch. Six only grunted a bit.

"You were enhanced, _everywhere_?" Carolina asked.

"Yes. Including the groin. And I'm still a virgin. Thanks for asking." Six firmly said.

"I didn't need to know that." Carolina said.

"Just covering all the bases." Six said.

"You're not that good at human interaction, are you?" Carolina asked.

"I could say a similar thing about the freelancers." Six said.


	13. Chapter 13

Ch 13

"As we all know, Agent CT has deserted us, and is planning on turning her armor over to the insurrectionist. That must be stopped. Armor retrieval is of the highest priority. If you see the leader of the insurrectionist, take him out." The director said.

"Who will be leading this mission?" Carolina asked.

"Stealth will be agents Wyoming and Florida. Armor retrieval will be Carolina, Tex, and Six. Everyone else is the main assault force. Good luck." The director said.

Grabbing a DMR and an assault rifle, Six heads out to join his comrades in the hanger bay. He walks right past them, hearing the pilot argue with Delta. Soon, the rest of the squad follows.

Enroute to the base, Six's thoughts are in his head. He's fought inni's during the war, as ONI's personal hit man.

"We parking?" Wash asked.

"Indeed. The enemy base is right below us." The pilot said.

"How far below?" Wash asked.

"Very far. Don't let it get to your head." Six said.

Carolina came into the cago bay, with ominous news.

"Tighten up your harness." Carolina said, setting next to Wash as they tighten up their harnesses.

The pilot kills the engines, and the pelican drops to the earth like a rock.

"I think I'm going to be sick!" Wash said.

"You know these suits are supposed to eliminate all wastes! You could probably throw up in your helmet and it would take care of it for you!" Carolina joked.

"Yeah! You should try that, Wash!" York joined.

"You two are assholes!" Wash retorted.

"Actually York, we were never able to get the vomit disposal patch beyond Beta. Agent Washington would likely drown." Delta said.

"That's nice to know." Six replied.

"Way to kill the mood, D." York said.

Just before hitting the ground, the pelican roughly stopped its descent, and the bay door opened.

"First floor! Everybody out!" the pilot ordered.

Six jumped out of the pelican, DMR in hand. Bringing the rifle up, he shoots a surprised equalist and runs forward into the fray.

Two warthogs drive up and fire at the group. While everyone else runs for cover, Six charges the warthogs. He slides under one of the warthogs and shoves a grenade inside the fuel tank. He quickly rolls away from the warthog as it blows up.

"Well that's one way of…" Carolina said, watching as Six lifts the remaining warthog and chucks it away, killing the occupants.

"Show off." Carolina growled.

4 enemy snipers start hosing the Freelancers with rifle fire. Carolina, who is also pinned, attempts to throw a grenade at the squad, only for the grenade to be shot. York and Wash move up, only for a third warthog to pin them down.

"I'll get the warthog. You guys get the sniper!" Six said, as he runs past the pair and hits the warthog at full tilt. The warthog is rolled on the top, the gunner squashed beneath the vehicle.

"We got the snipers. You're go." North said.

As Carolina and Six advanced inside the complex, more innie troops move to engage the freelancers.

A loud bang is heard, as Agent Maine arrives at the battlefield, via drop pod.

"Well, that'll keep them busy." Six said.

"Damn straight." Carolina said.

Agent Florida appears out of nowhere, and the three head towards CT's location. Florida spies inside a hallway, seeing the leader, and two soldiers. Six barely registers a collapsible tomahawk heading towards them, watching as it embeds in Florida's armor.

"Cut them down!" the leader says.

Wyoming, Wash, York, Six, and Carolina take cover behind pillars. The gunfire flows past them, preventing them from moving.

"Wyoming, move up!" Carolina said.

"With all due respect, I'd rather not be killed." Wyoming said.

"York! Got any ideas?" Carolina asked.

"Anyone have a nuke?" York asked.

"You mean the one I'm going to drop on Wyoming if he doesn't move the hell up?!" Carolina seethed.

"Do you have any ideas? We're pinned down, and if we stick our heads out, we're dead!" Six retorted.

"So how are we going to get thru all this?" Wash asked.

"So far, we're not." Wyoming said.

"Maybe Wyoming should try one of his knock-knock jokes." York sarcastically said.

"Oh, who's there?" Wyoming asked.

"Nobody, stop." York replied.

"Nobody, stop who? Shall I go on?" Wyoming asked.

Six grabbed Wyoming's helmet and slammed it against the wall, hard. He grabbed the sniper rifle and peaked out from cover. Instead of focusing on the gunners, he observed the environment around them.

He noticed a crane that is moving a large crate, and fires at the joints. After the fourth round, the crate falls and crushes the enemy soldiers.

"That's how it's done." Six said, dropping the rifle.

Suddenly, a cloaked figure runs past them, towards CT's location.

"No, damn it!" Carolina growled, and ran after Tex.

"Man, she really wants to win." Wash said.

"They can get the armor. Come on. Lets cut the power to this base." Six said.

The freelancers headed towards a panel, and Delta appears.

"York, there is little chance you will successfully cut the power before Carolina and Tex arrive at the leader's location. You should let me cut the power." Delta said.

"Get it done, D. We're out of time." Six said.

Seconds later, the lights dim and power down.

"Now what?" Wash asked.

"We hunker down, and wait." Six said, aiming his assault rifle into the darkness.

After minutes of waiting, Carolina, Tex, and Wyoming appear.

"Did you get the armor?" Six asked.

"We didn't. We're heading back." Tex said.

Everyone heads to the surface, while Carolina briefly looks back to the scene of carnage.

"Carolina, lets go." Six said, motioning with his hands.

Six observed Carolina, and noticed she wasn't her usual cocky self. She seemed despondent about something. Losing the armor? Losing to Tex?

"Carolina, whatever is on your head, you need to put it aside. You're one of the top freelancers, and we'll need all the help we can get." Six said.

"It's just…" Carolina started, clenching her fist.

"Just what? Unable to get the armor? We'll get it later, or let the UNSC deal with it." Six said, as the two approached the surface, seeing the rest of the freelancers enter the pelican.

"It's not just that." Carolina said.

Six inwardly sighed. He was not good at this.

"If you want to talk, we can talk later. Right now…" Six started.

"Hey, where's Wyoming?" South asked.

Six facepalmed himself.

"I'll go get him." Six said, and ran back using his superhuman speed.


	14. Chapter 14

Ch 14

Six entered the observation booth of the training room, noticing North and York. Looking down into the room, he saw Carolina training, hitting two rows of green targets.

"How long has she been doing this?" Six asked.

"Hours. She just won't stop." North said.

"How are you guys holding up?" Six asked.

"A bit jittery, but good." York said.

"North?" Six asked.

"It's Theta. If Theta can't sleep…" North said.

"Ah, one of the side effects they don't tell you about. Having someone else's voice in your head sure does take some time getting used to, doesn't it? Delta's always running these probabilities." York said.

Six drowned out the conversation and focused on Carolina and her training. There was no way she was capable of beating him and agent Texas.

"She's going up against a Spartan, and a high tier agent. It's not going to work." Six said.

"Well, she's ignoring that fact." North said.

"I'd say she could beat Tex. Could. But against a Spartan, who has the strength of an Elite, or a Brute? I don't think so." Six said, turning around and walking away.

Watching the new agent leave, York made a comment.

"We all need a break."

Six didn't encounter Carolina for the next week. For most of that week, nothing of importance occurred. No attack, nothing. But they also increased the amount of AI's being used by the agents, with most of the top agents having an AI, excluding Six and Carolina.

Six did notice that Carolina was getting more aggressive and impatient with her fellow agents. At one point, he had to restrain Carolina from attacking a fellow freelancer, just because he made a comment.

Inside the locker room, the freelancers were busy cleaning their guns, when Carolina came in, tossing her helmet across the room.

"Damn it!" she shouted.

"Let me guess. Training went good, but it's not good enough." Six said.

"Don't you start." Carolina said.

"Carolina, you need to figure out where your priorities are. And you've been going thru plenty of simulations. You've even simulated battles from the covenant war. And you've yet to complete the majority of them." Six said.

"Oh come on! Those are fucking aliens like none other! I think you amped up the difficulty level." Carolina said.

"Actually, I lowered it." Six said, a smirk on his face, hidden by the helmet.

"God, you're one scary motherfucker. No wonder none of the AIs will choose you. I think Sigma is afraid of you." Carolina said.

"And Omega. Omega is afraid of the Spartan." Gamma said.

"Who's Omega?" Carolina asked.

"He's the most powerful of us." Gamma said.

"If Tex has him, that's why she's better than me?" Carolina asked.

"Sounds about right. Heard of John-117, and his AI friend, Cortana?" Six asked.

"That lying… It all make sense now. She's not better than me. It's been Omega." Carolina said.

"Omega's strength is unmatched. I don't know if anyone could beat him. Not alone." Gamma said.

"If you had two AI, you would be able to even take on the Spartan." Sigma put in.

Carolina continued talking with the two AI, then left.

"I have a bad feeling about this." Six said, and went after Carolina. He followed her to the training room, and stayed out of her sight. His enhanced hearing picked up her walking towards the director, counselor, and agent Texas.

"You know counselor, I think I am noticing a change in my aggression levels." Tex said.

"Everyone remain calm." The counselor said.

"I want an AI." Carolina stated.

"Damn it." Six muttered.

"The next AI that comes up is mine." Carolina said.

"Alright Carolina, if you want an A.I. then you will have an A.I. In fact, you can choose: Agents Washington and South Dakota are both due for implantation today. We have two A.I., Eta and Iota, ready for field testing. Which one o' your teammates do you think you should delay? I'll leave that up to you." The director sarcastically said.

"I want both." Carolina said.

"Two AI? That'll fuck with your head." Six muttered, still in the shadows.

"I want both." Carolina said.

The director smirked, already 10 steps ahead of Carolina.

"Counselor, put Carolina in the next schedule. Agent, you'll get what you want." The director said.

Carolina headed out the way she came in, and ran into Six.

"I hope you know what you're doing." Six said.

"Don't worry. You'll be the first to find out." Carolina said.

Six and Tex headed back to the locker room, where they heard South throwing a temper tantrum.

"You know, South makes Carolina look like an angel." Tex said.

"And that's saying something." Six said; Tex nodded in agreement.

The two walked thru the doors, grabbing the attention of the agents in the room. Next to South, was an open locker door, and a fallen nametag.

"Pick it up." Tex said.

"No." South said.

"Pick it up. Now." Six said, his deep voice now threatening.

South picked up the fallen nametag and shoved it towards Tex's chest. She angrily walks away.

"I should… I better go." North said.

"So, Carolina in surgery?" Tex asked.

"Just went in." York said.

"We're heading to recovery one to wait for her." Wash said.

"Maybe you should come with us." York said.

Tex looked at the nametags, in contemplation.

"Later. I got something to do." Tex said.

In the recovery room, Wash, York, Six, and Wyoming waited for Carolina to wake up. Agent Maine was also sitting on another bed, being examined by another doctor.

"How's she doing?" Wash asked.

"Should be coming around any minute." Wyoming said.

"What's he in for?" York asked, noticing Maine.

"Probably all the headaches he's been having. Did you ever get them after Delta?" Wash asked.  
"At first. They went away quick. The other side effects were way worse." York said.

"What side effects?" Wash asked.

"Bleeding from the eyes, ringing ears, inverted penis…" York said.

"Inverted what?" Wash asked, taken aback.

"Just fucking with you, man. Couple of headaches. That's all." York said.

Carolina began to wake up, grabbing her head.

"How're you feeling?" Six asked.

"I want a match. Right now." Carolina said.

"That's a bad idea. You just had your head drilled in, and two AI implanted in your skull. You're not a ubermensch." Six warned.

"I want a match." Carolina repeated.


	15. Chapter 15

Ch 15

Six approached the table that was filled with weapons, and looked up. He saw Carolina preparing herself for the match. A match she was bound to lose.

"Lets finish this." Six muttered, and walked into the ring.

The match started, and the two freelancers ran towards each other.

"What the hell is going on?! No matches were authorized and… ALLISON, NO!" the director yelled, seeing Carolina and Six about to fight.

All at once, the freelancers that had AI implants screamed and growled in pain and agony. Carolina fell to the floor, screaming as if she were hit with a needler round.

"Make it stop! Make it stop!" She yelled, ripping off her helmet.

"What the hell is going on here?!" Six shouted at the observation booth.

The director and counselor turned around and walked away, leaving Carolina in her misery.

Lowering himself to a knee, he clenched his right hand into a fist and pulled his arm back.

"This is for your own good." Six said, and knocked Carolina out.

He easily lifted her over his shoulder and headed to the medical ward.

"Christ." Six muttered.

Entering the sick bay, he lay Carolina on a bed, and checked her pulse. There was a steady heartbeat.

"What happened?" a doctor asked.

"She had two AI implanted in her head. Went nuts as a result. Start checking her." Six said.

Six watched as the doctors went to work on Carolina. For the moment, she was stable. But he did have one question.

"Come in." the director said.

The door was harshly pushed open, and Six came in. The director half expected the Spartan to have a rifle in his hand.

"Why?" Six asked.

"Why what?" the director asked.

"Why did you give her two AI?" Six asked.

"She requested the AI, and I gave it to her." The director calmly said.

"You're too damned smart to fall for something like that. You have plans, back-ups, and even more back-ups. There's something at plan here, something you've worked out long before. Carolina was supposed to have Maine's AI, Sigma. North tells me that the AI help influence the host." Six said.

"What's your point?" the director asked.

"What will happen to Carolina? To all of us? What games do you have in store for us?" Six asked.

"This is not a game, Spartan! My program is essential to the survival of the human race!" the director balked back.

"That's not good enough. Your freelancers are not Spartans. Hell, they don't have the cohesion of the marine corps, or the army. Whatever your plan is, I'll be ready." Six said, leaving the room.

Six headed to the recovery room, and looked at the unconscious Carolina.

"I'm going to kill him." Six muttered.

"Kill who?" Wash asked, startling the Spartan.

Six quickly turned back, fists raised.

"Hey, Wash." Six said.

"So, who are you going to kill?" Wash asked.

"None of your concern." Six said.

"We're friends, Six. Tell me." Wash said.

For a moment, Six felt sorry for Wash. He was rather naïve about what was going on.

"Wash, there are things that a person can only keep to themselves. You'll know when the time comes." Wash said.

Six spent the next few days doing two things. Practicing his sharpshooting skills, and looking over Carolina. She was still under, and not waking up.

"How's she doing?" Tex asked.

"Still under." North said.

The two freelancers were looking into the recovery room from a medical observatory.

"How long has he been looking after her?" Tex asked.

"He spends time doing one of two things. Looking after her, and practicing his shooting skills. I think he's planning something." North said.

"Lets hope it doesn't involve us. You know your sister petitioned to get one of Carolina's AI." Tex said.

"She didn't." North said.

"She did." Tex said.

"I'll talk to her. That's inappropriate." North said.

"Yeah. She's a fucking vulture. Keep an eye on her." Tex said.

"Something's different about you." North said.

"You have an AI, right?" Tex asked.

"Theta." North said.

"Takes time getting used to. Mine took a little longer than most. I'm not sure I want to depend on him." Tex said.

"You've been pulling him?" North asked.

"Haven't used him in days. And no-one is going to know." Tex said.

"They have to stop implanting now." North said.

"Wash is up for surgery next." Tex said.

"You're kidding me." North said.

"Well, time marches on. So does project freelancer." Tex said.

"Yeah. But lately, it seems that we're getting trampled." North said.

"Call me when she wakes up. Or… if she doesn't." Tex said.

The next day, Six was in the observation booth, watching the implantation of Wash's AI; Epsilon.

"We're going to hell for this." Six muttered.

Meanwhile, Tex headed to the empty freelancer classroom and plugs in the data chip. On the screen, CT's face appeared and started to play the message.

"Agent Texas... Allison. If you're reading this, then that means I escaped. Or, well at the very least, I'm probably not around anymore. He broke the law, Allison. The one law they don't just slap you on the wrist for. I'm taking the originals with me as an insurance policy. I leave this copy for you not because you are one of the best in the squad, but because I know that I can trust you the most. After reading these files you will understand why. Good luck. Your friend, Connie."

Tex went thru the files on the drive, discovering what the director was doing. At the same time, Epsilon was being implanted in Wash. Suddenly, he screamed and grabbed his head. He pushed the table away and continued to scream.

"Sedate him, now!" the director ordered.

The doctor managed to sedate Wash, strapping him to the bed.

"Get him to recovery, now!" the director continued.

"Counselor, I'd like to speak to him as soon as he wakes up."

"Of course. What was that he said about good-by? Director?" the counselor asked, confused.

Six's enhanced hearing caught what the counselor said.

Six headed back to the recovery room, and saw Carolina get up.

"Got bad news. Wash went in for implantation, and it failed." Six said.

"How bad?" Carolina asked.

"I don't know. God, everything is falling apart. First, Connie, the AI, now you and Wash. Hell, I'm considering jumping ship. Head back to the UNSC." Six said.

"Well, I need to see the director." Carolina said.


	16. Chapter 16

Ch 16

"How long was I out?" Wash asked, waking up, seeing North, South, and Six looking over him.

"Only a few days this time." North said.

"This time?" Wash asked.

"Yeah. After they removed it." North said.

"Removed it?" Wash asked, reaching to the back of his head.

"It's gone. They're going to remove all of them. Started with you." North said.

"Yeah. Thanks asshole. The whole process is on hold now." South bitterly said.

"South, that was the result of a malfunctioning AI. Not Washington." Six said.

"Whatever." South said.

Out of the blue, Six threw a punch in South's direction, hitting her in the chest and sending her flying against the wall, knocking her out.

"Finally. Some peace and quiet. Carolina said she was going to see the director. Haven't seen her since." Six said.

"The director is sending her to hunt down Texas." North said.

"Why would that happen?" Six asked.

"Don't know. Heard that she went rogue and attacked Wyoming." North said.

"That doesn't sound like Tex. She wouldn't just go after a freelancer like that." Six said.

Suddenly, an alarm sounded announcing Tex's return.

"That doesn't sound good." Six said, as he and North left the room.

As he headed to grab weapons, Tex spoke to him on a secure line.

"Six, if you can hear me, listen carefully. I know the director is doing highly illegal practices. Both with the agents, and with the AIs. I need to break inside and get the Alpha AI." Tex said.

"Never heard of it." Six said.

"Okay. Are you for or against the director?" Tex asked.

"Right now, I'm against what the director is doing. He should have known the AI wash received was defective. God knows what else he's been doing." Six said.

"That's not even close to what I know. You can either stay out of the fighting, or fight with me." Tex said.

"I've had enough fighting. I'll stay neutral and let the dust settle." Six said.

"Good. If we crash on a planet, run. Just run as far and as fast as you can." Tex said.

Six heeded her advice and settled in an empty room. He closed the door, aimed a shotgun at the bottleneck, and waited. He opened the comms and listened to the chatter.

Gunfire echoed across the ship, as the freelancers fought it out against one another. A loud noise and shuddering was heard. The lights flickered, and the gravity went off in some parts of the ship. Including the area he was in.

"Well, there goes my cover." He muttered.

Six opened the door, and sailed thru the gravity less corridors, using this suits EVA thrusters to avoid any debris and dead bodies. He also killed anyone who was dumb enough to take a potshot at him.

Making his way to the bridge, he heard as Carolina and Tex fought.

"Give it up, Carolina." Tex said.

"Never. I can beat you." Carolina said.

"No. You can't." Tex growled, as she kicks a door towards Carolina, who barely misses it. Both freelancers fell towards the observatory glass, as the Mother of Invention headed towards the nearby planet.

Six enters the bridge, and watches as the heat builds up from entering he atmo.

"Guys, we're about to land hard!" Six shouts, as he prepares himself for a hard landing.

The side of the ship hits a mountain, causing them to fly off-course, where they crash onto the snow. Everyone is knocked off their feet. Six stands up and heads outside the ship. He notes Agent Texas land next to him. The two look ahead, and see Agent Main approach Carolina.

The bigger freelancer grabbed Carolina by the throat and ripped her two AI out, accompanied by her screams. Maine then threw Carolina off the ledge.

"No!" Tex shouted, as she and Six ran towards Maine. Unslinging his brute shot, he menacingly turned towards the two freelancers.

Tex ran away, while Six ran towards the ledge and jumped after Carolina. His Spartan time saw that Carolina pulled out her grappler and fired upward. The cable caught onto the ice and she slowed her descent. Six reached out and grabbed the ice, slowing his descent.

"You okay?" Six yelled to Carolina.

Carolina didn't speak, in shock of what happened.

"We need to get out of here! Or we're dead!" Six stated.

Carolina nodded her head and continued to rappel down the high mountain.


	17. Chapter 17

Ch 17

 _Years Later_

Six follows Carolina as they approach a door, hearing voices on the other side. Carolina opens the door and walks forward.

"I've been looking for you for a long time, Alpha. Now that I found you, I'm going to do what I should have done years ago. You're going to help me kill the director." Carolina said, as she faced down two soldiers, one wearing blue armor, and one wearing red armor. And the epsilon unit.

"Carolina? You should be dead. And who's the giant person next to you?" Church asks.

"Noble 6. Who the hell are you two?" Six asks.

"The one in red is Sarge, the leader of red team. The one in blue, is Caboose, the dumbest soldier in blue team." Church said.

"Alright, we have the AI. Lets get out of here." Six curtly said.

"Wait, what's going on?" Church asks.

"We'll explain on the road. Right now, the UNSC is tracking us." Six said, as he headed back the way he came.

"Hey, Wash." Six said, encountering the second Freelancer.

"Hey, Six." Wash said, as he headed to Carolina.

Six headed back to the entrance, where several UNSC soldiers were hosing his position with a minigun. He primed a plasma grenade and tossed it onto the weapon itself. A loud explosion told him the area was clear, and he walked to execute the stragglers. He then heard Spanish music, and looked up.

A warthog drove towards him at high speed, and he rolled out of the way.

"Damn it Griff! You killed them before I could introduce them to my brand of red justice." Sarge said.

"I killed them, not Griff." Six said, watching another warthog came up. This warthog drove at a slower speed, and had classical music playing from it. Inside, was another red soldier driving, and an aqua covered soldier brandishing a covenant plasma sword.

"I'm riding with you, next time. He actually stopped at the train tracks." The green soldier said.

"It's the law." The red soldier said.

"We were being shot at!" the green soldier retorted.

"It's still the law." The red soldier muttered.

"Simmons, only you could manage to make a high speed car chase boring." Sarge said.

"And who's the other two?" Six asked.

"The one with the sword is Tucker, and the orange one is Griff." Wash said.

"I still don't understand why you guys rescued me." Church said.

"Don't blame us. Blame those two." Sarge said.

"Blame her." Six said, hitching his thumb to Carolina said.

"She wanted to get you out of that memory what's it. Something about you being a mental imprint of professor what's his puss." Sarge said.

"Can somebody translate that, I don't speak huckleberry." Church said.

"Yeah. The mean lady wants to find the director and since you have all his memories, you might know where he went." Caboose said.

"Wow. That actually seemed to correct. There must be some part you didn't understand." Church said.

"And when we find him, we're going to throw him a surprise party." Caboose said.

"There it is." Church said.

"Sure, as long as surprise party means shooting him in the face and then walking away in slow motion." Sarge said.

Six looked at the colored soldiers, wondering if they were all nuts. By their mannerisms, they probably were.

"I don't know how much help I'm going to be. I may have the director's memories, but that doesn't mean I remember them." Church said.

"Yeah. I have the same problem. I barely remember any of my own memories." Caboose said.

"Wow, no wonder Church said he was stupid." Six muttered.

"Everyone load up. Nav points are in your huds. Alternate navs uploaded to your secondary objectives. Sync?" Carolina asks.

"Sync." Six said, as he sat in the driver's seat.

"Sync?" Carolina asks when no-one else responded.

"Oh. Everyone, just say sync whenever she says that." Wash said.

"You guys aren't used to getting orders?" Carolina asks.

"We're used to getting them. We just don't do much with them." Griff said.

"We're retreating." Carolina said.

"Now that, I can follow." Griff said.

"That's usually step one in most of our plans. Sync." Simmons said.

"Lets just go." Carolina muttered, obviously frustrated.

As they headed to another facility, Six spoke to Wash.

"Wash, who are these guys?" Six asks.

"Project Freelancer set up training bases and simulation troopers for their freelancers to practice in. These soldiers, were from blood gulch. A box canyon in the middle of nowhere." Wash said.

"Lovely." Six muttered.

The group drove for hours on end, arriving at a windmill power base, when the warthogs stopped.

"Why are we stopping?" Six asks.

"We've been driving for hours." Griff said.

"And we've got a lot more ground to cover. So, lets keep moving." Carolina ordered.

"Listen, lady. I know this is your first road trip with us, but we got a system. And that system includes snack breaks, bathroom breaks, and stopping to take pictures of funny road signs." Griff explained.

"Jesus Christ." Six muttered, as he followed Carolina to the top of the base. He zoomed in on the blue soldiers, and heard them talk about church.

"You didn't delete my 'home movies' folder, did you?" Tucker asks.

"And that leads me to my second point." Church said.

"What a bunch of worthless idiots." Carolina said.

"I know. The one with the sword is blabbering about girls and his porn collection. We're on the run for our lives, and that's on his mind?" Six muttered.

"They're not all that bad. Once you get to know them." Wash said.

"I'll take your word for it. But I can tell they have one thing going for them." Six said.

"What's that?" Carolina asks.

"Comradery. Something the freelancers never had." Six said.

"We almost trapped the Meta last time we were here." Wash said.

"Almost. Which means you didn't. I wouldn't point that out again, Wash." Six said, as he continued to observe and listen to the sim troopers.

"Sarge, how come every time the blue get into something, we get dragged into it?" Griff asks.

"Good point." Six muttered.

"You know what they say. Keep your friends close, and your enemy within range of your primary firing weapon. So you can shoot them!" Sarge said, aiming his shotgun.

"He's off his meds. Probably ran out a long time ago." Six muttered.

"I know we agreed to help Wash, Carolina, and Six. But do you think they'll help us? If we run into trouble, you think they'll stick their neck out for us?" Simmons asks.

"Well, for a backstabbing double crossing no good dirty rotting blue, that Wash fella isn't too bad." Sarge said.

Six chuckled at that response.

"What a ringing endorsement." Griff sarcastically said.

"I'm more worried about Carolina and Six." Simmons said.

Six watched as Simmons went on a mini rant about the two killing the red and blues if they ever completed their mission. Topped off by Sarge saying they'll look weak in front of their enemy, as Caboose nonchalantly looks at them. Sarge and Griff left Simmons for a second, prompting him to say things were better when it was just the red and blues fighting each other, without the freelancers getting involved.


	18. Chapter 18

Ch 18

Six followed Carolina's footsteps and found her looking at the power generator to the windmill.

"Carolina, I doubt we'll find anything here. Besides, Maine went rogue, had no contact with command after the crash." Six said.

"The meta was attempting to transfer energy from these turbines into his suit. It was the only way he could keep his equipment running." Wash added, approaching the two.

"Damn it." Carolina muttered, walking away.

"It wasn't your fault." Wash said.

"But the director did plan for this. He had back-ups for every situation." Six said.

"Hell, he may have had all this… planned out for us." Carolina said, moving her arms wide open.

"And if not, he forgot to add in a few variables in account." She continued.

"And what about now? The whole world thinks you and six are dead." Wash said.

"Spartans never die." Six muttered.

"You think he knows you two are coming for him?" Wash asked.

"I do. And for once, I look forward to proving him right." Carolina said.

"The director was always hard on you." Wash said.

"He was hard on all of us." Carolina corrected.

"You're right. But you have to admit, he was pretty hard on himself." Wash said.

"Bow chika WOAH!" Tucker shouted, ducking as Six fired a shot from his covenant storm rifle. The plasma melted thru the door frame, and Tucker looked with amazement and worry.

"Leave. Now." Six said, slinging the plasma rifle and unslinging his DMR.

"Take it easy, Six. We just wanted information." Church said, appearing next to Tucker.

"Look, if you three are planning on dragging us around wherever you want, the least you could do is fill us in." Church said.

"I could fill her in." Tucker said, when Carolina fired next, causing Tucker to duck.

"You and your squads are on a need to know basis. Right now, you don't need to know." Carolina said.

"Really? You're worse than Tex." Church said; Carolina fired right thru the hologram, growling at them to leave.

"Carolina, you have to calm down." Wash said.

"Don't tell me how to lead my squad, Washington." Carolina said.

"I remember saving you and the other freelancer's asses, because you wanted to be competitive. Hell, it seems that you've gotten worse." Six said, walking out of the room.

Six and Wash approached Red team, talking about the situation.

"We've been meaning to talk to you about Carolina." Grif said.

"About what?" Wash asked.

"This whole finding the director thing." Grif said.

"I'm going to tell you guys something right now, just so you know. I've no interest in killing the director. I'm thru with all that." Six said.

"Yes, I agree with him." Grif said.

"So you're going to abandon the mission." Grif said.

"Red team never abandons the mission! We'll just go on an alternate mission. With less risk." Sarge said.

"Less risk?" Wash asked.

"Securing the front lines at red base." Sarge said.

"Going home is less risky? On what scale?" Wash asked.

"Well, we haven't been there in ages, who knows what kind of people have moved in on our territory?" Sarge pointed out.

"I guess you're right." Wash slyly said.

"What?" Sarge asked.

"Well, you are wanted criminals of the UNSC. I wouldn't be surprised if they were setting up an ambush for you right now." Wash continued.

Red team was silent, until sarge spoke.

"What?" He asked.

"I suppose I can't stop you. Anyway, I'm going to find Carolina. Good luck." Wash said.

"On second thought, you could probably use the extra help!" Sarge exclaimed.

"I'm staying with red team for the moment." Six said to himself, a humorous grin on his face.

After half an hour of doing nothing, Wash came and told them to mount up. Two days of driving followed, and they arrived at a place filled with nothing but sand. Carolina, Wash, and Six headed into the dunes to find CT.

"Here she is." Wash said, pulling the helmet out of the sand.

"I've no idea how she got out here." He continued.

"That's because she didn't." Carolina said.

"How could it have happened?" Wash asked.

"I know how. Me and Tex had CT and the inni leader pinned inside the main room. A fight broke out, and the two escaped. Tex threw an ax at CT, got her right in the chest." Carolina said.

"She died on the way here, and the innie leader took her spot." Six finished.

"So that's what happened to her armor." Wash said.

"Apparently. We never did complete our objective." Carolina said.

"But why come out here?" Six asked.

Carolina crouched and dug thru the sand, finding a freelancer data pad.

"I have a feeling this will be the answer." She said, looking at it.

"You think she'll find what she's looking for?" Wash asked.

"Your guess is as good as mine." Six answered.

The trio headed back to the sim troopers, watching them doing nothing but talk.

"Tucker, bring Church over here. I have a few questions to ask him." Carolina said, heading to an elephant vehicle. Carolina plugged in the data pad into one of the computers, and Wash tried to run it.

"Any luck?" Carolina asked.

"I think so." He responded.

The monitor turned on, and showed a freelancer monitor, along with other pieces of data.

"What do you need church for?" Tucker asks.

"I just told you." Carolina fumed.

"I know, but you can talk to me instead." Tucker said.

"Why the fuck would she want to talk a womanizing jackass like you?" Six retorted.

"We're a perfect match. We're both good looking badass rebel loners, and we've got the same colored armor." Tucker reasoned.

"Tucker, just focus on the mission, if you're capable of doing such a thing." Six replied.

"I remember that." Tucker said, looking at the monitor on the screen.

"You recognize this?" Wash asked.

"Yeah. It was a pain in the ass. Church lost a lot of weight." Tucker said.

"What?" Carolina asked.

"Caboose transferred epsilon from the memory unit into that thing a long time ago." Tucker said.

"I'm surprised you remember." Six sarcastically replied.

"Where is it now?" Carolina asked.

"Caboose, tell her where it is." Tucker said.

"We left it on the floor. Church no longer needed it." Caboose said.

"How could you leave an ancient alien artifact, on the floor of a warehouse?" Carolina asked, anger in her voice.

The data pad then shut off, the file corrupted beyond repair.

"That's not good." Wash said, grabbing her attention.

"Fuck! I can't believe we came all this way for nothing." Carolina said, then walked away.

"You guys are not making my life easy right now." Wash said.

"Do we ever?" Tucker asked.

"Good point." Wash replied.


	19. Chapter 19

Ch 19

Six spent the next day observing Red team, watching as Simmons kissed Sarge's ass, Sarge was coming up with convoluted plans to get Griff killed, and Griff was being lazy.

"And I thought the freelancers were nuts. Looks like the sim troopers just beat that mark." The spartan muttered.

Carolina came back, where everyone gathered.

"We're going home?" Simmons asked.

"Back to our old base?" Sarge continued.

"That's right, assholes. And you're taking us with you!" Church stated, appearing next to Carolina.

 **Valhalla**

 **Outpost 17A/B**

The large group arrived at the abandoned training bases, completed with two large bases, and a roaring waterfall.

"Wait, what about the military? This could all be a trap." Simmons said.

"What are you talking about?" Carolina asked.

"Wash said that the UNSC had troops here, waiting to ambush them. Of course, they're not here. It's empty." Six said.

Carolina glared at Wash in response.

"Sarge, where's this base of yours?" Six asked.

"I'll show you, Six. Come on. With you on our side, those dirty blues will rue the day they were born!" Sarge said.

"Sarge, you know the red vs blue war is fake." Six said, but Sarge paid no attention.

Six became aware of a conversation between Grif and Simmons about hourly wages. Six wasn't sure the sim troopers were being paid at all. And since they were now fugitives, it certainly wouldn't happen.

"I'm tired of all this waiting! Simmons, you said Lopez was shot here. Lets go get him back. Leave no man behind. Leave no robot without his nuts. No warthog un-lubed." Sarge said.

"That doesn't make any sense." Simmons said.

"He's a robot, Simmons. We can rebuild him and activate him at any time. Gives us an edge over those pesky blues. In the battle of ghosts vs robots, robots always win. Except in anime." Sarge replied.

The group approached the base, and Six heard latin music playing from a radio. He also saw a scarecrow, with a UNSC helmet attached to it. Next to that, was a house that appeared to be made from cement and had a straw ceiling.

"There he is. Spanish inquisition! Someone's been torturing him." Sarge said, as they looked at Lopez.

"He kind of looks like a scarecrow." Simmons said.

"You said Lopez. Anyone else here?" Six asks.

"Wait. It looks like a garden. Is that compost? Sustainable housing? Oh no." Simmons said, as he realized who the owner was.

"Oh, hey guys!" a high-pitched voice said. Six turned to the voice, and saw a figure wearing pink armor.

"Pink armor?" Six asked.

"It's lightish red!" the person said.

"Donut, it's called pink." Simmons said.

"Hi Sarge. Long time no see." Donut said.

"I thought you were dead." Simmons said.

"Dead? What are you talking about?" Six asked.

"Washington shot him a while back." Simmons explained.

"Fill me in later." Six said.

"I can fill you in right now, if you want. Just step in my house, or in front of everyone." Donut said.

"Nope! Not going to happen." Six said, fully aware of the double entendre.

"Anyway, do you know what removes blood stains from armor, not a lot I tell you. I laid their forever, wondering how I was going to get all of that dark red, of this light red." Donut said.

"Someone helped you? Who?" Six asked.

"Guys, think about it. Medical attention, lifestyle choices, that can only mean one thing." Simmons said.

"Well, look what the cat dragged in." a voice said, belonging to a purple armor that walked up to them.

"And who are you?" Six asked; almost at his wits end.

"Simmons, is that doc behind us?" Sarge asks.

"It is, sir." Simmons said.

"Simmons, get my gun." Sarge said.

Six sighed and headed to take a nap in some shade. This was pushing him at his wits end. Hopefully Carolina would just let the vendetta go. He woke up and followed Sarge and Simmons to their base, where they ran into Grif.

"Hey guys. Did you find Lopez?" Grif asked.

"Yeah. Donut had him nailed to a board." Simmons said.

"Bad choice of words." Six muttered to himself.

"I thought Donut was dead." Grif said.

"Yeah, we really need to stop saying that." Sarge replied.

"He almost was, but Doc fixed him up and they live together. They say hi, by the way. And they fixed us this banana bread." Simmons said.

Six looked at the desert, and noticed the card saying 'hope you like nuts' from Donut.

"Nice. I'm going to have to forget to send them a thank you card. Simmons, when you said Donut nailed Lopez to a board…" Grif started.

"I mean with nails. I should have been clearer." Simmons said.

"Is Donut gay, or does everything that comes out of his mouth is an innuendo of some form?" Six asked.

"We quit trying to figure that out years ago." Grif said.

The group headed into the base, finding their rooms still the way they were when they were forced to abandon it. Six headed into the kitchen and grabbed some food to eat, his enhanced hearing picking up on a conversation happening upstairs.

"He's a real dirtbag, alright. But even if he's six feet under, we'll still be in the same damn place." Sarge said.

"Sir?" Simmons asked.

"All I'm saying is we made it back to base in one piece. We even have a new member on the team, Six. Do you boys really think running off again will make matters better? Because the way I see it, it'll just make things worse." Sarge pointed out.

"You're right about that, Sarge." Six muttered.

The squad lazed around when Blue team and Carolina showed up. All of them headed into the basement of red base, a large holographic chamber.

"Let me get this straight. You guys have built an entire holographic chamber, but you couldn't figure out how to take our flag." Tucker said.

"Lopez built this." Grif said.

"That makes more sense." Tucker replied.

"And we did manage to capture your flag. So, suck it blues." Simmons said.

"Our team has more kills!" Caboose said.

"Team kills don't count." Sarge retorted.

"You don't make the rules." Caboose said.

"Technically, project freelancer makes the rules. And I say, blue team gets to add my kills to there." Wash said.

"If that's true, then Red team has my kills. I helped take down a covenant supercarrier during the war. So, suck it." Six replied.

"You're on red team?" Wash asked.

"To even things out. One freelancer per team." Six said.

"But I thought…" Wash started.

"Everyone, listen up! We've got big news." Carolina said.

"You and Wash are taking your relationship to the next level! The writing was on the wall." Caboose said.

"Carolina was closer to Six than to me, Caboose. So, Carolina would be taking her relationship with Six to the next level." Wash said.

"We found the director." Church said, appearing in his full holographic form.

"You know where the director is hiding?" Wash asked.

"That's right." Carolina said.

"He's holed up in one of his compounds we've seen over the last few years. But we've no idea of what modifications he's made, or if he has security with him." Church said.

"We need to be ready for anything and everything. So lets go over the plan." Carolina said.

"What plan?" Tucker asked.

"I thought the plan was to find the director." Grif said.

"And we found him. Good job, everyone." Simmons said.

"The plan has changed." Carolina said.

"You want to kill him, right?" Six asked.

"Yes." Carolina said.

"So what's our plan?" Grif asked.

"She wants us as bait. We hold off the security forces, while she goes after the director himself. Very similar to countless other ops we were on." Six retorted.

"Fuck that." Grif said.

"Will you guys quit complaining and do something for once?" Church asked.

"Son, are you remembering who saved your ghost ass back there?" Sarge asked.

"We almost died trying to find you." Simmons said.

"Oh, boo hoo. Complain when you've come back on your second or third life." Church flippantly said.

"Wow. Fuck off, blue." Grif said, turning around and walking away.

"Where are you going?" Carolina asked.

"I'm heading home." Grif said.

"Count me out as well." Six said.

"Six?!" Carolina fumed.

"This isn't my fight. I've no vendetta against the director any longer. There's nothing he can do to harm us." Six said.

"Count me out, too. Busting you out of a military base was loads of fun. But I'm not getting turned into swiss cheese so you could settle your vendetta. This ain't our fight." Sarge said.

"Took the words right out of my mouth, sir." Simmons said.

"Both of you, be quiet!" Carolina said, walking up to the pair.

"This ought to be fun." Six muttered, observing.

"Dude, this is bullshit." Tucker said.

"Tucker!" Church exclaimed.

"Bet quiet! That's an order!" Carolina said, walking up to the sim trooper.

"Well guess what?! I don't take order from you, bitch!" Tucker exclaimed in response.

"Well, what about now?" Carolina asked, aiming her rifle at him.

"Don't do that." Wash growled, putting his pistol up to her head.

"Wash, what are you doing?" Carolina asked.

"Protecting my friends. Lower the weapon." Wash said.

"You're siding with them?" Carolina asked, surprised.

"Is that such a damn surprise?" Six asked, aiming his rifle at her as well.

"Wash, I don't understand! We found the director. We can make him pay!" Church said.

"All I want, is for you two to leave. I've already been responsible for enough of their problems in the past, and I'll be damned before I let you cause anymore." Wash said, walking away.

"So that's it. You're just going to turn your back on them." Church said.

"Epsilon…" Wash started.

"No, I shouldn't be surprised. It's not exactly like you're new to the concept, is it." Church said.

"That's a little harsh." Sarge said.

"But you guys? After all the shit you put me through?" Church asked.

"What shit?" Six asked, walking until he stood abreast with Sarge.

"You shot me thru the head, you put a bomb in my gun, you killed me with my own tank, and that's just how we met!" Church ranted.

Everyone was now looking at the AI, as he grew in size, and anger.

"Church, calm down! What's your problem?" Tucker asked.

"YOU'RE MY PROBLEM! YOU'VE ALWAYS BEEN MY PROBLEM! EACH AND EVERYONE OF YOU IS JUST A PROBLEM THAT I HAVE TO DEAL WITH, ON A DAILY BASIS!" Church shouted.

One by one, the sim troopers turned around and left; starting with Tucker, then followed by everyone else. Six followed the red team as they headed up the stairs and out of the base.

"I don't know what's gotten into you, Carolina. But you need to figure out the difference between your enemies, and your friends." Wash coldly said.


	20. Chapter 20

Ch 20

The two teams forgot about Church and Carolina, and settled into their old routine, which at this moment, was playing the flag. Six was still unsure about his role now, and decided to observe both teams fight it out.

And Blue team had all of Red teams stuff, thanks to Agent Washington. As much as Six wanted to laugh at the situation, he couldn't.

"Do I have to do this?" Simmons asked.

"That depends. How much do you want your flag back?" Wash asked, standing next to the pile of junk captured from the reds.

"You know, it was funny the first few times. But this is getting depressing." Tucker said, as Simmons was forced to humiliate himself in front of red team.

"What else do you got?" Wash asked.

"Nothing. You took everything from us." Grif said.

"Not everything." Simmons said, and entered the base. He came out with a covenant Brute shot in his hands.

"Is that what I think it is? Is that who's I think it is?" Wash asked in shock.

"Advanced alien weapon belonging to the scariest fucking mute in the galaxy, yes." Simmons said.

"What did you do with it, Grif?" Six asked.

"We'll take it." Tucker said.

"No. No-one is taking the Grif-shot." Grif said.

"Oh please. What were you going to do with it? Eat off it?" Tucker asks.

"Actually, I asked Donut to mount it in the base." Grif said.

"And you know I can't resist a good mounting." Donut said.

"You're hiding one of the most advanced alien pieces of technology, and mounting it in your room as a trophy?" Wash asked.

"Well, when you say it like that, it sounds stupid." Grif said.

"That's because it is." Wash replied.

"I think it's great." Doc said, appearing out of the blue.

"When I first met you, you guys wanted to do nothing. Now, you can't go five feet without running into an adventure of some sorts." Doc said.

"What's your point?" Sarge asked.

"Just thought it was kind of cool. You guys have been thru a lot. Don't you want something to remember all the good times?" Doc asked.

"The good times? I was stranded in the desert." Tucker said.

"We were almost killed." Simmons said.

"I found out my entire military career was a lie." Sarge said.

"And I got shot." Donut added; Wash whistled away.

"Yeah, but you guys discovered other things. Sarge, you actually got to lead a real military operation. Tucker, you became a pro with your sword. Wash and Six found a new team, and Simmons got back his old team, I managed to keep someone from dying." Doc replied.

"And in return, I didn't die." Donut said.

"You see, in the end we all work together and everyone got what they wanted." Doc sid.

"Not everyone." Caboose sadly said.

Tucker then walked towards the beach, his energy sword activated.

"If you go, there's no guarantee you'll come back. This isn't a game for the director. He plays for keeps." Wash warned.

"It was getting kind of stale around here, anyway." Sarge said.

"After everything church and Carolina said, the way they treated you." Wash said.

"We gave you a second chance." Simmons pointed out.  
"Besides, if we quit every time church started shouting, this shit would have been over a long time ago." Grif added.

"We'll be outgunned…" Wash said.

"They have a Spartan going with them." Six said, holding an assault rifle.

"And Spartans fought outgunned, and always came on top." He continued.

"This is stupid. Just think about it." Wash said.

"Son, stupid and reckless is how we've always got things done. There's one thing you freelancers seem to forget, is that we manage to kick your ass time and time again. Sure you got all your smart plans and your fancy technology and your advanced training, but in the end, what has that got you? Without a team you can count on, your fellow soldier by your side, all that really doesn't amount to squat." Sarge said.

"Same thing I said to Carolina years ago." Six said.

"So, are you going to keep playing it safe, or are you going to be a little reckless?" Sarge asks, loading a round in his shotgun.

"This has to be the worst idea ever. Count me in." Wash said.

"Guys, they have a huge head start on us. How are we going to catch up?" Simmons asked.

To answer Simmons question, four hornet gunships appeared.

"What? We really are wanted criminals?" Simmons asked.

"Holy shit. Wash was right?" Grif added.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me." Wash deadpanned.

The gunships came down to ground level to capture them, only for Sarge, Six, and Wash to raise their weapons at the UNSC soldiers, and hijacked their gunships.

"That was too easy." Six said, as he steered the Hornet to their destination.

 **Freelancer Base**

 **Hours later**

Sarge blasted the computer terminal that was hanging on a tree, and the door opened.

"You know, I could have given my codes. I was the top agent in the program." Six said.

"Maybe. But shotgun in the face works every time." Sarge said, as the group headed down the hallway.

They went thru a large room and heard gunshots and fighting.

"Sounds like Carolina." Wash said.

Six noticed several teleportation units, and walked thru one, the rest of the team following him. They came upon multiple agent Texas units, bearing down on a weakened Carolina.

"I can never beat her!" Carolina bitterly said.

Donut primed three of his plasma grenades and threw them, landing the grenades on the Tex clones.

"9 points, you dirty whore!" Donut declared, as the grenades went off.

"Get up." Six said, lifting Carolina up with a single arm.

"What are you doing here?" Carolina asked.

"Told you there not so bad once you get to know them." Wash said, as Six handed Carolina his rifle.

"I thought this wasn't your fight." Church sardonically said.

"Come on. Overwhelming odds with little to no chance of success? How could we resist?" Sarge asks.

"Guys, I'm an asshole. I admit it. And I will gladly accept any and all smartass remarks after this is over." Church said.

Everyone racked the bolts on their weapons, and Six ran out first in to the fray. He plowed thru a line of clones, and beat several away with his storm rifle.

"For our ancestors ancestors, attack!" Sarge shouted, as everyone charged forward, firing their weapons forward.

Six hosed a clone with his rifle when it started to leak plasma. He attached a plasma grenade to the rifle, primed it, and threw it at a large group of clones, burning the clones to death.

"Not again!" Grif said, as he was kicked in the balls, again.

"You had to see that coming." Tucker said.

The red and blues were pushed into a circle, and the Tex clones still came after them.

"Epsilon, do you remember how the alpha stopped the meta?" Wash asked.

"Yeah, but that was one guy. Not a hundred." Epsilon said.

"There's only one Tex. And Church, no-one knows her like you." Wash advised.

"Alright. Stand back everybody. This is going to be personal." Church said, as he jumped into one of the AI clones.

The clones faltered and stood where they were. Then, they fell down as one collective group.

"You know, you could have done that before I got punched in the nuts by 20 of them at once." Grif said.

"Yeah, but where's the fun in that?" Tucker joked.

"So, I guess our work here is done?" Simmons asked.

"There's still the director." Wash said.

"No. What comes next, Carolina and I need to do alone." Church said.

Six escorted the pair to the director's door, and looked at both.

"Good luck." He said.

"We'll need it." Church said.

The troopers waited outside, and then noticed Carolina head towards them. No-one said anything, but all jumped when they heard a pistol shot.

"Come on, lets go." Six said, taking point.


	21. Chapter 21

Ch 21

Six was enjoying his well-deserved sleep when a loud explosion woke him up. Grabbing his rifle, he ran towards the noise, and saw a tank firing its main cannon at red base.

"What the hell is going on?" Six asked.

"Our base is in need of renovation. Figure I'd tear down the east wing, and put in something nice an decorative. Like a mortar cannon." Sarge said, in the cockpit of the tank.

"And it didn't occur to you to warn me?" Grif asked, appearing from behind the wall. Sarge just stared at Grif and pulled the trigger, sending another slug towards the wall.

"Direct hit, sir." Simmons said

"No it wasn't." Sarge said.

"We don't have tank, Sarge. Who gave it to you?" Six asks.

Just then, Wash came up, already having Six's answer.

"It was Caboose, wasn't it?" he deadpanned.

"Probably." Caboose said.

"Sarge, get out of the tank." Wash said.

"Nonsense, blue." Sarge said.

Six walked onto the tank and threw Sarge out.

"You damn dirty blue." Sarge said.

"I'm not in your army, Sarge. You can't do anything to me." Six said.

"I'd like to see you against the end of my shotgun!" Sarge said, racking the weapon.

"Done. Super soldier, bitch." Six said, assuming fighting stance. Sarge lowered his weapon and growled, fully knowing that he didn't stand a chance against the Spartan.

"Blue base is built directly underneath the crash site. You've got an unfair advantage." Sarge said.

"Sarge, we're not fighting anymore." Six said.

"We're just camped in opposite ends of the canyon in color divided teams. While heavily armed." Wash said.

"True, but have you ever considered that fighting is just in our nature? It's almost instinctual. If we don't fight, we'll surly die." Sarge said, trying to point out his much flawed and non-existent logic.

"Dear god, I hate you so much." Wash said.

"We may not be fighting, but you are closer to the food storage than we are. And that is something I will not stand for." Grif said.

"You'll probably eat all of it, Grif. And we'll have to kill you, and cannibalize your body. Not a happy prospect." Six said.

"Hey, I taste perfectly fine!" Grif said.

Six shook his head, wondering why he chose to stay with the sim troopers, instead of going with Carolina and Church. He then listened as the red talked about the condition of their base, which was made up of the remains of the ship the crashed while transporting them.

"But aren't slipspace engines supposed to be extremely radioactive?" Sarge asked.

"That explains why my hair keeps falling out. And why your cabbages have three heads." Grif said.

"Yeah, I'm sleeping outside." Six said, watching Simmons head back into the base, talking about a harvest in the upcoming fall.

The group headed inside when Sarge made an announcement.

"Men, it appears we're approaching this base thing in the wrong direction." Sarge said.

"I'm sleeping outside." Six said, and headed back out. Despite being with red team for a short amount of time, he already knew this was going to be a shit plan. Instead, he headed to blue base to talk to Wash.

"Hey, Wash. How's it going?" Six asks.

"Not good. Tucker is a dick, and Caboose has depression. How's it going on your end?" Wash asks.

"Even worse. Sarge has this crazy plan about the base. I know it's pure crap, so I'm not staying around. I'd rather stay outside than be involved with their shenanigans." Six said.

"So you're not on any team?" Wash asks.

"Correct. Right now, I'm just doing nothing. Man, I spent my entire life fighting enemies left and right. First, the covenant. Then the innies. Now, boredom. And that can't be solved by shooting it." Six said.

"Well, you should head back. If Sarge sees you over here, he'll flip." Wash said.

"There was never a red vs blue war to begin with. Are you sure Sarge wasn't recruited out of some asylum?" Six asked.

"That makes a lot of sense, considering Sarge." Wash said.

Six headed back to base, only to hear Simmons yelling.

"YOU FUCK!" He shouted, raising his rifle.

"What's wrong with you?" Grif asked, backing away.

"What's wrong with you?! You keep stacking dishes in the sink. I don't even think you've eaten off of some of them." Simmons said.

"Isn't that were they go?" Grif asked.

"No! They go in the cupboard!" Simmons retorted.

"We have a cupboard?" Grif asks.

"Hey, keep it down." Sarge said.

"Sarge, please tear down this wall." Simmons said.

"What wall? All I see are sandbags. Poorly stacked I might add." Six said.

"Hey Simmons, this might be a bad time, but we're out of toilet paper." Grif said.

"What? How?" Simmons asked.

"Alright. I'm out of here." Six said.

"I believe you borrowed my toolbox." Wash sternly said, approaching them.

"What do you need a toolbox for?" Simmons asked.

"I don't know. Maybe to repair the radio tower so we can get the fuck out of here. I thought you were the smart one, Simmons." Six said.

"The tool box." Wash said.

"Upstairs." Grif said.

"Show me." Wash said.

The two headed upstairs, and Six heard this conversation.

"It's a mess." Wash said.

"It's a way of life." Grif said.

"Are those my socks?" Wash noted.

"Yeah. You probably don't want them back." Grif said.

"Simmons, I'm going to have to stop you before your terrible plan becomes any more terrible." Sarge said.

Six left the base and headed to blue base.

"Six, what are you doing here?" Tucker asked.

"I'm defecting to blue team. I can't stand them anymore. Wash is the only one I can stand. And he's my friend, so that adds to it." Six said.

"I thought you didn't like blue team." Tucker said.

"No. I don't like you, Tucker." Six said, as he entered the base and found an extra room.


	22. Chapter 22

Ch 22

"I'm just saying, somebody should have found us by now." Tucker said.

Wash only grunted in response, as he continued to work on fixing the radio with Six's help.

"If a plane crashes and disappears, that's fine; civillians." Tucker said.

"Not sure I follow that." Wash said.

"But this was a spaceship. National tragedy level importance. The galactic positioning system should have alerted command in case we went down." Tucker said.

"Tucker, how do you know that?" Six asks.

"I read it in a book?" Tucker said.

"Bullshit." Six said.

"I don't believe that. Then again, I don't care." Wash said.

"What happened to my iron?" Wash asks.

"I don't know." Tucker said.

"Damn it. This would be going so much faster if I didn't have to search for tools every five minutes." Wash said.

"You think the reds took it?" Tucker asks.

Wash pulled a shotgun out of nowhere, and spoke in a mock southern accent.

"Men, it appears our shitty fortifications aren't meeting my ridiculous standards! Lets steal Washington's tank and fire at our wall! That'll fix it!"

"Yes, I think it was the reds." Wash said in his normal voice.

"Why are you so wound up all the time?" Tucker asks.

"Gee, maybe it's because we crashed on an unknown planet in the middle of nowhere, and no-one has come to get us. Not the UNSC, nor the inhabitants of this rock, if anyone is still alive. God, what a scary thought." Six said.

"And every second we're here is another second closer to death. Or worse." Wash said.

"Okay, that's a little morbid." Six said.

"What's worse than death?" Tucker asks.

"I don't know. I just thought it sounded dramatic." Wash said.

"Come on. It's not that bad." Tucker said.

"Did you suffer a serious head trauma when we crashed? Do you not listen to my little rant?" Six asked.

"Six is right. This place is unnerving. It's like we're being watched." Wash said.

"Oh, please. People get that feeling all the time. I had it for years." Tucker said.

"But you were watched all the time, by Freelancer." Six pointed out.

"Well I don't feel like I'm being watched right now." Tucker said.

"Thanks. I feel much more secure." Wash sarcastically said.

"Don't be a dick." Tucker said.

"Then don't be an idiot." Wash retorted.

"What's your problem?" Tucker asks.

"My problem is, you and Six are right. Someone should have found us by now." Wash soberly said.

The situation was made worse when the reds appeared, with a robot.

"What do you want?" Wash asked.

"Figured it'd be a good idea to come over and lend a hand." Sarge said.

"No. That's a terrible idea. Please, don't touch anything." Wash said.

"But we could offer tech support." Simmons said.

"Have you tried using d batteries?" Sarge asked.

"Power isn't the problem. These battery arrays are solar powered." Wash said.

"Well there's your problem already. We got to convert this baby to diesel on the pronto."

"Solar is fuel standard for communication systems."

"Well, Oh la la, private hippy. Hey, I got an idea. Why don't we just plant a garden, grow some organic sun dried tomatoes and open a farmer's market. Then on the first Saturday of the month, when the UNSC shows up to by some fruit, we'll just hop onboard and ride back on the power of love." Sarge said.

Six had to hold in laughing, though he was struggling to underneath the armor.

"Tucker, if they touch anything, or if he speaks again, prod them with your sword." Wash ordered.

"That's something I can get behind." Tucker said, activating his sword and turned around at the reds, then realization hit in.

"Oh no. Not that." Tucker said.

"Tucker, you're holding a covenant plasma sword. That can cut thru any piece of armor and shielding in the known galaxy. Now follow his orders." Wash said.

"Then I guess you don't want help from our advanced robot." Sarge said, as Lopez 2.0 appeared.

"Hola." The robot said, only speaking Spanish.

"Nope!" Wash said.

"Racist." Grif said.

"Hey tree hugger, what if I told you it runs on recycled cooking grease? Grif sweats the stuff." Sarge said.

"Gross." Six said, glad that he joined blue team.

The robot offered to fix the radio tower, but no-one could understand him.

"Damn it. Why did I program my armor to translate covenant language, but not fucking Spanish?" Six asked himself.

"Why don't you three go check on our food supply? It's been a while since I've done a full inventory." Wash said.

"You're going to let Grif check our food?" Six asks.

"Second thought, don't do that." Wash said.

Wash hit the radio, and it turned on, grabbing a signal.

"Mayday, mayday. This is agent Washington of project freelancer. Can anyone read me, over." He said.

No response.

"Mayday, mayday. We are survivors of a shipwreck and are in need of immediate rescue, please respond, over." He continued.

Still, no response.

"Mayday, mayday. This is Agent Washington and red and blue troopers of project freelancer. We are stranded, does anyone copy?"

No response, and Wash let out a final plea for help.

"Mayday, this is agent Washington. I am soldier. Is anybody out there? Can anybody hear me?"

Static was heard, and a voice came thru.

"Hello, can you hear me?" the voice asked.

"Yes, we're here. Do you read us?" Wash asked.

"It's an emergency!" Simmons said.

"Code red!" Sarge added.

"What, you mean a lightish red?" the voice asked. Everyone just stared at the tower, unsure if the voice they heard was real, or their imaginations.

"What the fuck did he just say?" Tucker asked.

"I mean, there are many shades of red." The voice said.

"Donut! Is that you?" Sarge asks, standing next to Wash.

"Sarge? Hey guys. What have you all been up to?" Donut asked.

"We're stranded in the middle of the jungle with dwindling food and limited supplies!" Sarge said.

"That sucks." Donut said.

"No shit!" Grif shouted.

"Donut, I need you to listen to me. You need to send help! Call command!" Sarge continued.

"Command? I think I know a guy if you want to turn this into a three way." Donut said.

"No! We don't want that. I need you to write down these coordinates." Sarge said.

"Who's Donut again?" Wash asks, looking at the rest of the troopers.

"Cheery guy. Pink armor." Simmons said.

"Kind of stupid." Grif added.

"And a little…" Tucker started.

"Did I shoot him once?" Wash asked.

"Bingo." Grif said.

"And we're sure he's competent to save our lives?" Wash asked.

"Sorry. Did you say 5, or 9?" Donut asked.

"I said 8." Sarge said.

"Right." Wash said, realizing their chances of dying went thru the roof.

"Donut, those are our last coordinates, but let them know that we have no idea where we are." Wash said.

"Don't worry, guys. No matter how deep the bush, private donut always finds his man." Donut cheerfully said.

Wash and Sarge give each other a brief look.

"Roger that, son." Sarge said.

"So, what happened?" Grif asked.

"Well boys, I don't want to jinx ourselves, but we're getting rescued!" Sarge shouted.

Everyone began to celebrate, and fire all their excess ammunition indiscriminately into the air.

"Sure. Lets waste the limited ammo we have. Of course the planet is empty." Six sarcastically said.

"Lets not get our hopes up, just yet." Wash said.

"Come on, Wash. Lighten up. We did it. We made contact." Tucker said.

"Well, it is good news." Wash replied.

Caboose suddenly appeared and spoke.

"Hey guys, I'd like to introduce you to my new friend." Caboose said.

"New friend?" Six asked, wondering what the idiot found.

"Freckles, come!" Caboose said.

Heavy thumping noise was heard, and everyone looked as a large robot appeared, armed with a 30mm machine gun, and rocket launchers.

"Everyone, I would like you to meet freckles. Freckles, say hello." Caboose said.

"Enemy soldiers detected." The robot said, aiming his weapons at Grif and Simmons.

"Those aren't our enemies, Freckles. Those are Grif and Simmons. Our enemies." Caboose said, causing the robot to charge its rockets for a strike.

"Firing main cannon." Freckles said.

"Freckles, stand down!" Six shouted, aiming his rifle at the war machine.

"Yes, sir." Freckles said, his AI reading the UNSC Spartan as a superior.

"So, what are you guys up to?" Caboose asked, while everyone stared in fear and horror at the large robot.


	23. Chapter 23

Ch 23

"Caboose, where did you find him?" Six asked, as blue team was standing in front of Caboose and Freckles.

"I found him in some of the wreckage." Caboose said.

"Of course our ship is carrying a lethal weapon like Freckles." Six muttered.

"Great. Boy meets dog. Dog turns out to be a military grade killing machine." Tucker said.

"Caboose, you know a pet is a lot of responsibility." Wash said.

"That is why I will water him and feed him every day." Caboose said.

"What the hell are you talking about? It's a machine. Not a flesh and blood person." Six said.

"Yeah. What does it run on?" Tucker asked.

"It runs on the power of the friendship of our love." Caboose said.

"This is so fucked up." Tucker said.

"Didn't you give birth to an alien baby a few yours back?" Wash asked.

"Now that shouldn't be physically possible." Six said.

"So, what fun adventures are we going to go on today, Freckles?" Caboose asked.

"I'm not doing shit. We're getting rescued, remember?" Tucker asked.

"Actually, I think it would be best if we continued our training routine." Wash said.

"There's no point." Tucker said.

"Training is an ongoing process, Tucker. And as the leader of this team, I want to make sure we're ready for anything." Wash said.

"This is fucking stupid." Tucker replied.

"Tucker, you do realize that the giant robot can kill you if you don't comply with Wash's orders. Hell, I'm a Spartan, and I wouldn't take that thing on." Six said, as he went to run laps across the canyon.

"Where are you going?" Tucker asked.

"To take an inventory of our food supply. I prefer it be someone who can count." Wash said.

"I only screwed up twice." Caboose said.

"You screwed up once." Wash said.

"Yeah. I can see your point." Caboose said.

Six returned from his jogging, and found Simmons at the base.

"Simmons, what the hell are you doing here?" Six asked.

"High, Six. I'm defecting." Simmons said.

"Boy, Sarge is going to kill you." Six said.

"Hey, you don't know how gross Grif is." Simmons said.

Six sighed in exhaustion.

"Fine. But if the Reds attack, don't be surprised." Six said.

Simmons headed inside and found a room. He headed to a balcony and looked down at Caboose, Tucker, Six, and Freckles.

"Hey, Tucker. Any idea when Wash will be back?" Simmons asked.

"Who cares?" Tucker asked.

"I have some suggestions for the upkeeping of blue base." Simmons said.

"I don't know, and I don't care." Tucker said.

"Well, I got two words for you. Chore wheel." Simmons said.

"Is he serious?" Six asked; blue base was in better shape than red base was.

"He is." Tucker said.

"God help me." Six muttered.

"Tucker, why aren't you running drills?" Wash asked.

"How do you know I didn't finish them?" Tucker retorted.

"Because you're not complaining that your nipples are sore." Wash said.

"I'm telling you. My chest piece rubs right up against them. And not in a good way." Tucker said.

"Why do you refuse to take things seriously?" Wash asked.

"That's a good question." Six said.

"Why can't you just let us do our thing?" Tucker asked.

"I'm trying to make sure you're the best. That you're ready for anything." Wash said.

"Why? Blue team was just fine being mediocre. What are you worried about?" Tucker asked.

"When will you get this thru your head?! We're marooned on some unknown planet, that could have some parasitic life form waiting to kill us all! Of course, we need to be prepared!" Six shouted.

"If they wanted to attack, they would have done it by now! But no-one is going to attack us!" Tucker shouted.

"Hey Wash, didn't know you were back." Simmons said.

"What is…why is he here?!" Wash asked.

"He defected from red team." Six said.

"I took the liberty of claiming the bunk closest to you. I hope you don't mind." Simmons said.

"Why would you willingly choose to sleep as close to your CO? And I just realized that sounded better in my head." Six said, noticing everyone looking at him.

"I don't have time to deal with you, right now. Go away." Wash said to Simmons said.

"Good one, sir. By the way, is it cool if I start calling you sir?" Simmons asked.

"Why is he still here?" Wash asked.

"If I was him, I'd be as far away as possible." Tucker said.

"You can't go to red base. You'll be shot on sight." Six advised.

"You can call me champ if you want. Or son." Simmons said.

"Simmons, what the fuck is wrong with you?" Six asked.

"Look, as long as I'm leader of this team, I will do everything I can to ensure your safety whether you like it or not." Wash said.

"We don't need you protecting us." Tucker said.  
"I know! That's why I'm trying to help you!" Wash exclaimed.

"Help us with what? Defending against attack? No-one is going to attack us!" Tucker said.

The sound of a warthog being driven towards them was heard, quickly followed up by Sarge yelling a command.

"Attack!"


	24. Chapter 24

Ch 24

Sarge and Grif arrived in a warthog, and crashed into a tree. Sarge climbed out of the jeep and pointed his shotgun at Tucker and Wash, who in turn had their rifles pointed at him.

"You have the worst timing possible." Tucker said.

"Stow it. We're no longer fraternizing with the enemy." Sarge said.

"When he says we, imagine only him. Do not group us together." Grif said.

"Then why are you driving?" Six asked, aiming his rifle.

"And what the hell are you two doing?" Wash asked.

"Once again, not two just him." Grif said.

"You made me believe that red and blues could co-exist. That we could all get together and become a little purple." Sarge said.

"Insanity must have spread at red team. No wonder me and Simmons left." Six said, slinging his rifle.

"What the fuck is this about?" Wash asked.

"You kidnapped one of my men." Sarge said.

"He wasn't kidnapped, dipship. He defected. We can't get him to leave." Tucker said.

"Is this true, Simmons?" Sarge asked, lowering his shotgun.

"It's not your fault sir, it's Grifs." Simmons said.

"What did I do?" Grif asked.

"You're fucking disgusting, Grif!" Simmons said.

"I've always been like that. Sarge was the one who took half the base to himself." Grif pointed out.

"Then it is your fault." Simmons said to Sarge.

"That makes you a traitor!" Sarge said, hopping on the mini gun and pointed it at Simmons said.

"What!?" Simmons asked.

"Get behind me." Six said, pulling Simmons behind him, and aimed his rifle at Sarge.

"Threat level increased." Freckles said.

"No killing freckles." Caboose said.

"You deliberately joined the enemy." Sarge said.

"But if he wasn't kidnapped, that would mean we were never the enemy in the first place." Tucker pointed out.

"Don't try and confuse me with your words, shamrock." Sarge said.

"I'm aqua!" Tucker shouted.

"Tucker, calm down." Wash said.

"Me, these guys roll up in a fucking assault jeep and you choose to yell at me?" Tucker asked.

"Look, tensions are high…" Wash asked.

"That's an understatement." Six said under his breath.

"No shit, Washington. I'm tired of you bossing us around." Tucker said.

"Now, is not the time." Wash said.

"You know, now's the time." Tucker said.

"There's nothing to finish!" Wash shouted.

"You know, you're the worst thing to happen to blue team since blue boy decided to show up." Tucker said.

"You take that back, Wash is a great leader, I think." Simmons said.

"Blasphemy!" Sarge shouted.

"Deadly force, authorized." Freckles said.

"Seriously, I would rather follow Caboose into battle, than you." Tucker said.

"That's a bad idea." Six said.

"Then why don't we make him in charge?" Wash asked.

"I humbly accept your nomination." Caboose said.

"Shut up!" Wash and Tucker said.

"Do not talk back to your commanding officer." Freckles said.

"Oh shit." Six said, as he realized what would happen.

"Wash and I are having an argument. I will talk back to him. That's how arguments work, you fucking toaster." Tucker said.

"Washington is not the commanding officer. Captain Caboose, is now the commanding officer. Do not talk back to your commanding officer." Freckles said.

"Caboose is team leader? Fuck this." Simmons said, and he walked back to red team.

"Private Simmons, deserting your post is punishable by death." Freckles said.

"Sarge, now the blue team has kidnapped Simmons." Grif said.

"Then it's war!" Sarge shouted, aiming the minigun at Freckles.

"Say hello to robot satan, you mechanical son of a bitch!" Sarge shouted, as he charged the minigun, only for Freckles to unleash a barrage of rocket fire that destroyed the warthog.

"Sarge, are you okay?" Simmons asked.

"No, Simmons. Not until I have my revenge!" Sarge shouted, and proceeded to charge the robot on foot, with only his shotgun.

"Engaging target." Freckles said.

"Freckles, no!" Caboose said.

"Sarge, don't!" Wash shouted.

A lone gunshot got everyone's attention. They looked to the sound, and saw Donut.

"Man, you guys are really noisy." Donut said.

"Thank god, we're saved." Six said, as everyone ran to meet Donut.

"Donut, thank god you're here." Grif said.

"We were just about to kill each other." Sarge said.

"Speak for yourself." Tucker said.

"Where's the ship?" Wash asked.

"What ship?" Donut asked.

"The ship you came on, dumbass." Six said.

"Oh. Allow me to introduce, the rescue team." Donut said, showing everyone Doc.

"Doc?" Simmons asked.

"Wait. What is this?" Wash asked, his right eyebrow twitching.

"Donut told me you guys needed help." Doc said.

"So I got the best help money could buy." Donut said.

"You didn't pay me." Doc said.

"And I didn't tip the pilot." Donut said.

"What pilot?" Sarge asked.

"The pilot who dropped us off." Donut replied.

"Dropped you off?" Tucker asked.

"As in, he's not here anymore?" Grif asked.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me." Six said.

"So you're telling me, that you heard our distress call, grabbed doc, hopped on a ship, and then told the ship to leave, AND THAT'S YOUR IDEA OF SENDING HELP?!" Wash shouted, filled with rage.

"No. I brought Lopez." Donut said.

Lopez 2.0 looked at Lopez, who was a severed head.

"Kill him!" Sarge shouted.

Six approached Donut, and kicked in his rib cage, causing Donut to collapse and spit blood in his visor. Everyone joined in as they beat Donut with their feet, fists, and rifle butts.


	25. Chapter 25

Ch 25

After beating Donut to a bloody pulp, the blues headed back to their base, where they were forced to follow Caboose's orders, or be killed. Meanwhile, Simmons was busy trying to install an internet line at their base.

"Even if you could, you'll only get a connection between the two bases." Six said.

And Six was right, as Simmons said he only had hard-lines at the two bases. And he also created basebook, a clear parody of facebook.

"I think Simmons has lost it." Six said.

Wash and Tucker headed to fix the radio, while Simmons stayed behind and worked on his basebook projects. At least it was something meaningful.

"So, Six? Anything I should know here about blue base?" Simmons asked.

"Tucker's a fucking prick, Caboose is an idiot, and is our leader, freckles is his killing machine on a leash, and me and Wash are the only sane people in the canyon, while we're slowly loosing our minds." Six deadpanned.

"Okay, then. That's nice to know. You already know about red team so no need to go into specifics." Simmons said.

A future cube landed in the room, catching both their attention. It then detonated, and a bunch of Griff's trash from his room was revealed.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Simmons shouted.

Simmons proceeded to rock back and forth in the corner of the room. Six leaped out of the window and headed to Wash and Tucker, where he saw them working on the radio.

"Is that fixed yet?" Six asked.

"Not yet." Wash asked.

"Well, a bunch shit from red base just flew over here and landed in Simmon's room. And he's catatonic from it all." Six said.

"Great." Wash muttered.

"What else is new?" Six asked.

Caboose and Freckles came to the scene, and said the same story. Wash headed into the ship, claiming he found something that would fix all their problems. That left Tucker and Six to clean up the mess.

"Ugh. Where the hell did this junk come from?" Tucker asked.

"Came from red base. They must have found some new grenade. That's what I saw seconds before it blew, and dumped out all of this." Six said.

"Caboose, I need some help down here!" Wash shouted.

"Shit." Six muttered. He dropped his rifle and grabbed a sniper rifle he found laying around in blue base.

"Can I use the sniper rifle?" Tucker asked.

"No." Six said.

The two headed outside, where they saw Wash and Freckles aiming their weapons at each other. Caboose stood next to Freckles and talked to Wash. Wash looked at everyone, then spoke.

"I'm sorry, Caboose. I'm sorry your best friend left you without saying goodby. Maybe he thought you would try to stop him or maybe it was just too hard for him to tell you, no matter the reason, he's gone. He left you. Both of you. I don't really do… emotional things. And I hoped you might be able to get over this by yourself, so I left you alone. And instead of coming to terms with what you lost, you replaced it with the first thing you found. But I should have been there for you, Caboose. Because… that's what friends are for." Wash said.

"Captain Caboose is not your friend." Freckles said. Wash pulled the bolt on his rifle and aimed it at freckles.

"And as your friend, I want to say that I'm sorry. I know it's not much, but I made you this." Wash said, stepping to the side and showing an old helmet.

Caboose was ecstatic about having his old helmet back.

"I know how much you like freckles, but you have to understand that he's very dangerous. He's not a puppy anymore." Wash said.

"Yeah. He blew up a car." Caboose said.

"We all saw that." Wash said.

Caboose walked in front of Freckles, and handed command of blue team back to Wash. Six sighed in relief and slung the rifle. At least they didn't have to live in fear of being killed by a giant robot.

"Nice one Wash. A few choice words, and you're back on top. Very sneaky." Tucker said.

"Nothing sneaky about it. I meant every word." Wash said.

Six noticed four blips on his radar and looked in the direction, only to see a hail of gunfire erupt from four soldiers walking towards them, rifles blazing.

"Get to cover!" Six shouted, as leaped off the balcony and hid behind a tree.

"Who the hell are these guys?" Tucker asked.

"I don't know. But we have to kill them, before they kill us." Six said. He leaned out of cover and shot one of the soldiers, killing him.

"Freckles, take them out!" Six ordered. The giant robot fired a barrage of missiles and cannon fire, turning the remaining three into piles of body parts.

"What the hell is going on over here?" Sarge asked, red team following him.

"Who were those guys?" Griff asked.

"Don't know. They showed up and started shooting at us." Six said.

Lopez spoke, only for Sarge to shoot him down.

"Lets get inside. We need to find cover in case there's more coming." Wash said.

"Guys, run!" a figure shouted, appearing in front of them. He held a hard light shield, which blocked a rifle shot.

"It's another run!" Simmons said, raising his rifle.

Another unknown shot hit the newcomer in the leg, causing him to collapse on his knees.

"What are you guys doing? I said run!" he said.

"Excellent work, soldiers. You killed my men. I guess that makes you the real deal." A deep and menacing voice said.

A tall armored figure decloaked. He was wearing a green and grey colored armor, with an EVA helmet that had an X on the visor. In his hands, was a sniper rifle.

"All of you, come with me." He said.

"No chance in hell are you taking us." Six said, aiming his rifle at the unknown enemy.

"If you don't come now, I'll take you later." The enemy said.

"Fuck off." The one with the bleeding leg said.

"You. Shut your mouth and be glad I missed your head. This is your last chance." The enemy soldier said.

"Freckles." Wash ordered.

The enemy soldier cloaked himself as Freckles fired.

"What just happened? Did you see that?" Griff asked.

"We all saw it. He cloaked and escaped." Six said.

"Uh, any of you guys know how to patch up a leg?" Their friend asked.

"I'm gonna get some orange juice." Doc said.

"Wait. That's a thing?" he asked.


End file.
